LIBRARY 

OF  THK 

University  of  California. 

Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALSWORTH. 

Received  October,  i8g4. 
Accessions  No.  ^^Jj''7Pi.      Class  No. 


If  thou  SHALT  CONFESS  WITH  THY  MOUTH  THE  LORD  JESUS, 
AND  SHALT  BELIEVE  IN  THINE  HEART  THAT  GOD  HATH  RAISED 
HIM   FROM  THE  DEAD,  THOU  SHALT  BE  SAVED. — Paul  of  TarsUS. 


Hazell,  Watson,  and  Viney,  Printers,  London  and  Aylesbury. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED 


ITS   THEORY  AND  PRACTICE. 


WITH    A    PREFACE    ON    SOME    PRESENT    DANGERS 
OF   THE  ENGLISH    CHURCH. 


BY    THE 

REV.    STANLEY    LEATHES,    M.A., 

iENDARY   OF   ST.    PAULS,    I'KOKESSOR    OF    HEBREW,    KINGS   COLLEGE,    AKD 
MINISTEK    OF   ST.    nilLIP'S,    REviENT   STREET,    LONDON. 


:UHI7BRSIT 

't^   no Hf 
E.     P.     BUTTON     AND     Co, 

713,  BROADWAY. 

MDCCCLXXVIII, 

\^All  Rights  Reserved.l 


757  3 


^UHIVBRSITYj 

PREFACE. 


'HP HE  object  of  the  following  pages  is  at  once 
-""  simple  and  obvious.  I  had  occasion  some  time 
back,  in  the  course  of  my  weekly  ministrations,  to 
deliver  a  series  of  discour^s  ,ort  the  articles  of  the 
Apostles'  Creed.  In  doing  this  I  naturally  had  in 
mind  a  somewhat  larger  gathering  than  the  fluctu- 
ating and  precarious  one  of  my  own  Church,  and 
wrote  accordingly.  The  result  is  now  given  to  the 
reader,  in  the  hope  that  the  object  thus  aimed  at 
may,  so  far  as  it  shall  please  the  Divine  Head  of  the 
Church,  be  attained. 

The  Christian  Creed,  in  its  theory,  cannot  fail  to 
come  into  direct  antagonism  with  the  various  forms 
of  unrestrained  and  self-chosen  opinion  that  are  rife 
in  the  present  day,  and  that  attract  attention  because 
of  their  apparent  novelty,  and  elicit  sympathy  be- 
cause they  are  bold  in  their  unrestraint.  Under  the 
circumstances  it  was  clearly  desirable  rather  to 
glance  at  than   to  specify  them    more  fully,  or   to 


PREFACE. 


make  direct  reference  to  the  works  in  which  they 
are  found.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  tone  of  much  of  our 
popular  ephemeral  literature  that  needs  to  be  cor- 
rected. Another  standard  of  thought  requires  to  be 
presented  to  the  popular  mind,  and  such  a  standard 
is  afforded  by  the  theory  of  the  Apostles'  Creed. 

The  Christian  Creed,  in  its  practicCy  is  the  secret 
spring  of  moral  action  to  every  believer,  and  contains 
by  implication  the  standard  of  all  Christian  conduct. 
No  sound  treatment  of  the  Christian  faith  can  de- 
liberately pass  by  the  obligation  to  Christian  practice. 
While  dwelling  necessarily  on  those  aspects  of  the 
Christian  faith  which  are  opposed  to  very  much  of 
the  prevalent  thought  of  the  day,  I  have  not  in- 
tentionally overlooked  the  practical  bearing  and  im- 
portance of  the  Creed.. 

The  Christian  Creed,  therefore,  in  its  theory  and 
practice  may  concisely  express  the  obligation  of  the 
Church  in  all  ages  in  the  twofold  direction  of  faith 
and  conduct.  The  subjects  thus  suggested  can  never 
be  obsolete.  But  there  are  sundry  indications  that 
the  due  consideration  of  them  is  more  than  ever  in- 
dispensable at  the  present  time;  and  under  the  present 
aspects  which  the  Church  presents  it  may  not  be 
out  of  place  to  dwell  briefly  upon  some  of  these. 


PREFACE.  vii 

In  speaking  of  the  Church,  however,  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  meaning  of  the  word  is  one 
that  varies  with  the  sentiments  and  predilections  of 
the  persons  using  it.  By  education,  choice,  and 
conviction  I  myself  am  a  Churchman,  and  sincerely 
attached  to  the  Church  of  England  as  by  law 
established.  Let  it,  however,  not  be  supposed  that 
in  speaking  of  the  Church  I  have  any  desire  to  limit 
the  just  application  of  the  term  to  those  who  like 
myself  are  in  communion  with  that  Church.  The 
Church  of  Christ  is  something  vastly  more  than  the 
Church  of  England,  and  its  limits  can  only  be 
assigned  by  Christ  Himself  Consequently,  if  these 
pages  fall  under  the  eye  of  any  members  of  non- 
conforming denominations,  such  persons  must  not  be 
jealous  if,  for  convenience  sake,  the  term  Church  is 
at  tim-es  here  used  in  the  restricted  sense  more 
familiar  to  a  Churchman.  It  is  not  the  present 
aspects  of  the  Church  of  Christ  that  I  wish  to  dilate 
upon,  but  rather  to  offer  in  all  humility  to  my  fellow 
Churchmen  some  brief  observations  on  the  present 
position  of  the  English  Church. 

There  can  no  longer  be  any  doubt  that  a  consider- 
able body  of  persons  exists  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, in  open  and  professed  membership  therewith, 
who  are  deliberately  bent  upon  doing  all  they  can  to 


viii  PREFACE. 

assimilate  it  in  teaching  and  practice  to  the  Church 
of  Rome.  During  the  last  thirty  years,  and,  indeed, 
for  little  short  of  half  a  century,  this  has  often  been 
affirmed  ;  but  it  has  of  late  years,  and  by  the  pro- 
gress of  recent  events  been  demonstrated  to  a  degree 
of  certainty,  greater  perhaps  than  at  any  previous 
time  within  that  period.  At  the  commencement  of 
what  is  called  triumphantly  the  *  Catholic  Revival,' 
the  impulse  was  communicated  solely  by  the  agency 
of  doctrinal  teaching.  The  Church  was  put  forward  as 
the  great  source  and  depository  of  grace.  The  priest- 
hood was  invested  with  functions  which  had  almost 
entirely  been  in  abeyance  in  the  Church  of  England 
since  the  death  of  Queen  Mary.  Those  passages  in 
the  formularies  which  gave  any  colour  to  them  were 
dwelt  upon  with  greater  emphasis  and  dragged  into 
fictitious  prominence  ;  the  Sacraments  were  insisted 
upon  as  the  chief  and  the  only  sure  and  direct  means 
of  personally  applying  the  benefits  of  redemption, 
and  the  character  of  an  elaborate  and  graduated 
system  was  given,  not  only  to  the  offices  of  the 
Christian  ministry,  but  also  to  the  very  relations  of 
the  individual  soul  to  its  God. 

There  were  not  wanting  many  who  detected  at 
once  the  real  tendency  of  this  teaching  which  was  so 
openly   inculcated,  but  the  great   body  of  the   reli- 


PREFACE. 


gious  public  were  incapable  of  doing  so.  Many- 
persons  hailed  the  revived  system  of  religion  as  a 
promising  and  an  agreeable  substitute  for  much  that 
was  naturally  distasteful  or  unattractive  in  the  tra- 
ditional teaching  that  was  in  vogue.  The  Sacra- 
ments had  been  greatly  neglected,  but  they  were 
manifestly  the  ordinance  of  Christ.  The  Sacra- 
mental system  had  this  great  merit  to  the  ordinary 
mind,  that  it  gave  something  tangible  and  definite 
to  the  perplexed,  the  enquiring,  and  the  awakened. 

And  at  the  first  beginning  of  the  movement  the 
elaboration  of  the  Sacramental  system  in  its  bearing 
upon  practical  conduct,  and  as  the  most  satisfactory 
method  of  cultivating  the  development  of  the  spiritual 
life  was  the  main  object  with  its  advocates.  The 
treatise  of  Robert  Isaac  Wilberforce  on  the  Doctrine 
of  the  Incarnation  was  the  most  perfect  exponent, 
and  the  most  finished  expression  of  this  theory.  It 
was  really  an  expansion  of  certain  famous  sections 
of  Hooker  which,  perhaps  more  readily  than  any- 
thing else  in  English  theology,  lent  themselves  to 
this  treatment.  But  here,  as  in  so  many  other 
cases,  the  disciple  outstripped  the  master  whose 
fervid  rhetoric  was  turned  into  earnest  and  uncom- 
promising logic. 

The  effect  which  the  publication  of  this  book  had 


X  PREFACE. 

upon  the  teaching  of  the  English  clergy  was  un- 
doubtedly very  great,  and  I  am  very  far  from 
insinuating  that  the  influence  was  only  evil.  I  am 
very  willing  to  acknowledge  my  own  great  obli- 
gations to  the  teaching  of  that  book  in  many  ways. 
And  as  a  work  of  pure  theology  there  have  been  few 
like  it  in  the  present  century.  But  it  was  doctrinally 
the  highest  achievement  of  the  Sacramental  theory 
in  the  Church  of  England,  both  as  a  work  of  intellect 
and  as  a  treatise  of  systematic  theology.  When 
however,  a  few  years  afterwards,  its  accomplished 
author  was  received  into  the  Church  of  Rome,  it  be- 
came evident  that  whether  or  not  the  teaching  therein 
inculcated  was  the  teaching  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, it  at  all  events  was  not  essentially  antagonistic^ 
but  might  even  be  preparatory,  to  that  of  Rome. 
In  fact  the  development  of  the  Sacramental  system 
may  be  regarded  as  in  some  respects  more  perfect  In 
the  Church  of  England  than  in  that  of  Rome,  for 
the  very  reason  that  the  Church  of  Rome  has  a  far 
greater  wealth  of  system  to  present  than  the  existing 
formularies  of  the  Church  of  England  gave  any  scope 
for.  Consequently  the  desire  for  system  was  at  first 
obliged  to  expend  itself  on  the  Sacramental  theory, 
and  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  many  per- 
sons earnestly  endeavouring  to  serve  God,  found,  or 
seemed  to  find,  all  that  they  wanted  in  the  practical 


PREFACE. 


working  out  of  the  Sacramental  system.  They  were 
taught  that  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
there  was  provided  a  direct  opportunity  for  coming 
into  personal  contact  with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
which  had  the  advantage  of  leaving  nothing  to  be 
desired,  inasmuch  as  the  union  between  the  soul  and 
the  Redeemer  therein  effected  was  complete,  and 
assured  to  the  senses  by  participation  in  the  elements. 
The  peace  and  joy  thus  palpably  and  tangibly  given, 
seemed  to  be  the  very  fulfilment  of  all  that  redemp- 
tion meant.  Earnest  and  enquiring  souls  who  took 
refuge  in  this  ordinance  had  the  consolation  that 
they  were  acting  on  the  express  commands  of  Christ, 
and  were  accordingly  assured  that  the  path  they  had 
chosen  was  the  right  one.  It  followed,  however, 
necessarily,  that  if  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  was  thus  a  means  or  direct  channel  of  grace, 
unto  which  there  was  none  other  like  it,  then, 
the  oftener  the  act  of  participation  was  renewed 
the  better.  And  hence  the  advisableness  of 
increased  communions  was  largely  dwelt  upon. 
Whereas  the  rubric  of  the  English  Prayer-Book  had 
ordered  that  every  person  should  communicate  "at 
the  least  three  times  in  the  year,"  and  exceptional 
provision  was  made  for  "  all  Priests  and  Deacons  " 
"  in  Cathedral  and  Collegiate  Churches  and  Colleges  " 
to  communicate  "every  Sunday  at  the  least,"  it  rapidly 


xii  PREFACE, 

began  to  be  the  custom  for  communions  in  parish 
churches  to  be  monthly,  and  then  weekly,  until  at 
last,  as  now  in  the  metropolitan  cathedral  and  else- 
where, they  were  made  daily .^  Let  it  not  be  sup- 
posed that  this  is  mentioned  as  being  in  itself  a 
misfortune  or  a  fault.  We  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude, 
in  this  respect,  as  in  so  many  others,  to  the  pioneers 
of  the  '  revival '  in  stimulating  the  practice  of  the 
Church,  and  leading  it  on  so  many  degrees  further 
towards  perfection.  But,  unfortuately,  while  its  prac- 
tice was  improved,  the  principles  of  its  faith  as 
a  reformed  and  evangelical  church  were  secretly 
undermined  and  vitiated.  And  this  in  a  way  that 
was  the  least  suspected.  There  is  so  much  that 
appeals  to  our  higher  feelings  in  the  multiplication 
of  communions,  that  it  is  difficult  to  suppose  that 
any  danger  can  underlie  it.  There  is  no  surer  test  of 
vitality  in  a  church  than  the  increase  of  communions; 
but  I  am  regarding  them  now  from  the  side  of  one 
who,  being  anxious  about  his  spiritual  welfare,  desires 
to  avail  himself  to  the  utmost  of  their  increase,  and 
so  is  misled  to  seek  in  the  frequency  of  the  act  that 
which  alone  can  be  found  in  a  deeper  apprehension 
of  the  meaning  of  the  act.  Very  commonly  in  such 
cases  it  is  not  more  frequent  communions  that  are 

'  According  to  Mackeson's  Guide  there  are  now  thirty-nine  churches 
in  London  where  there  is  daily  communion,  and  in  two  of  them  it  is 
twice  a  day. 


PREFACE.  xiii 


wanted,  but  a  greater  degree  of  simple  and  childlike 
faith,  and  the  one  is  no  substitute  for  the  other. 
The  frequent,  or  even  daily,  multiplication  of  com- 
munions, though  not  certainly,  was  probably  a 
characteristic  of  the  Church's  infancy ,i  and,  there- 
fore, of  the  days  of  her  innocence  and  first  love ; 
but  it  by  no  means  follows  that  the  direct  imitation 
of  the  early  Church  in  an  outward  and  accidental 
characteristic  of  this  kind  carries  with  it  the  energy 
or  exercise  of  the  same  motive  principle  under  the 
present  and  existing  circumstances  of  the  Church. 
If  we  suppose  that  daily  communions  were  the 
original  custom,  they  were  at  least  a  spontaneous  act 
then  ;  the  same  cannot  be  said  of  the  restoration  in 
the  present  day  of  a  custom  long  obsolete,  if,  indeed, 
there  is  any  evidence  of  it  in  the  Reformed  Church. 
The  impelling  motive  in  a  case  of  this  kind  is  every- 
thing. In  the  early  Church  the  practice  would  arise 
from  the  intense  freshness  and  power  of  the  newly- 
learnt  faith  and  the  newly-felt  love.  The  practice 
would  flow  naturally  from  the  fountain  but  just 
opened  out  in  the  regenerated  heart.  It  is  alto- 
gether different  now.  The  desire  for  daily  com- 
munions now  manifestly  arises  from  the  feeling  that 
weekly  communions  are  insufficient.  But  insufficient 
for  what  ?     For  the  due  performance  of  the  Church's 

*  Acts  iL  46,  and  cf.  xx.  7  and  i  Con  xvi.  2. 

b 


PREFACE. 


ministrations,  or  for  the  life  of  the  individual  soul  ? 
Manifestly  not  for  the  former  reason,  because  if  so  he 
who  said  "  Let  all  things  be  done  decently  and  in 
order,"  ^  and  made  arrangements  about  the  collection 
for  the  saints,  would  not  have  omitted  a  direction  of 
this  kind,  or,  at  least,  an  allusion  to  it  would  have 
escaped  him  in  one  or  other  of  his  epistles  had  it 
been  part  of  the  original  Apostolic  order.  Clearly, 
therefore,  it  must  be  for  the  life  of  the  individual 
soul  ;  but  if  so  then  the  rubric  of  the  Church,  which 
prescribes  as  a  minimum  communion  three  times  in 
the  year,  is  surely  incompatible  with  such  a  notion, 
and  cannot  be  reconciled  therewith.  In  short,  it 
is  unquestionable  that  the  demand  for  daily  com- 
munions can  only  arise  from  the  fek  insufficiency 
of  more  infrequent  ones  to  sustain  at  the  requisite 
height  the  spiritual  vitality  of  the  soul ;  in  other 
words,  the  spiritual  vitality  of  the  soul  is  directly 
dependent  upon  the  frequency  of  the  act  of  com- 
munion. And  thus  frequent  communions,  weekly 
communions,  and  even  daily  communions  are  re- 
sorted to  as  a  means  of  increasing  that  spiritual 
vitality,  to  the  abundance  and  overflow  of  which 
they  can  alone  be  ascribed  in  the  early  Church.  Let 
it,  therefore,  be  distinctly  understood  that  it  is  not 
daily  communions  or  weekly  communions  in  them- 

'  I  Cor.  xiv.  40. 


PREFACE. 


xv 


selves  that  are  objected  to  ;  every  Christian  must 
rejoice  in  every  opportunity  of  meeting  his  Lord 
in  His  own  blessed  ordinance  of  breaking  of  bread  ; 
in  themselves  they  are  neither  right  nor  wrong, 
neither  good  nor  bad ;  when  proceeding  spon- 
taneously from  pure  and  fervent  faith  they  cannot 
be  otherwise  than  good  ;  but  when  resorted  to  as 
a  means  of  acquiring  the  increase,  or  even  as  a 
substitute  for  the  presence  of  that  faith  of  which 
the  felt  deficiency  is  the  very  motive  impelling  to 
the  use  of  them,  they  can  only  be  pernicious  as 
leading  the  soul  astray  in  a  false  direction  and 
to  a  delusive  result.  And  this  is  proved  by 
the  fact  that  the  restoration  of  the  early  practice 
of  the  Church  at  Troas^  is  found  to  be  so  in- 
adequate and  insufficient  for  the  spiritual  sustenta- 
tion  of  the  soul,  that  it  has  to  be  multiplied  to  a 
sevenfold  degree  in  order  that  the  result  may  be 
obtained  which  may  be  presumed  to  have  been 
obtained  in  the  case  of  the  early  apostolic  Christians 
of  the  Troad  in  St.  Paul's  days.  The  very  great 
divergence  of  practice  in  the  two  cases  is  enough  to 
show  that  the  principles  predominating  in  the  two 
cases  must  be  no  less  different.  Monthly  communions 
are  found  by  experience  to  be  insufficient  till  they 
have  been  multiplied  fourfold^  and  weekly  com- 
^  Acts  XX.  7> 


xvi  PREFACE. 

munions  are  found  by  experience  to  be  insufficient 
or  the  wants  of  the  individual  life  (be  cause  the  cor- 
porate necessities  of  a  largely  increased  number  of 
communicants  proportionate  to  the  extended  growth 
of  the  Church  is  not  now  the  question)  till  they  have 
been  multiplied  sevenfold.     What  room  is  there  for 
yet   further   increase  ?     But  is  it  not  obvious,  from 
the  analogy  of  past  experience  that  the  actual  result 
desired  has  not  yet  been  obtained,  for  if  so,  why  this 
sevenfold  increase  ?     On  examination  of  the  gospel 
history  we  find  nothing  that  can    in  any    way    be 
conceived  to  answer  to  these  repeated  communions. 
Christ,  on  two  several  occasions,  fed  four  thousand 
and   five  thousand  men,  and  when  they  were  filled 
He  sent  them   away.     We  nowhere  read  that   He 
fed   them  again.     He   showed  significantly  by  His 
feeding  them  that  He  was  the  Bread  of  Life,   but 
with    reference    to    that    bread    He    declared    that 
he  that   came   to   Him   should  never  hunger}    The 
coming,    then,  would    seem    to    represent    a    per- 
manent condition,  and  not  an  act  which    was  ever 
being  repeated    but  was   never  complete.      In   the 
various    miracles    of   healing    performed  by   Christ, 
the  cure  effected  was   an  instantaneous  and  a  per- 
manent   one.     We    nowhere    read    that    the    same 
person   had   occasion  to  come  to  Him  twice.     We 
» John  vi.  35. 


PREFACE. 


are  taught,  therefore,  that  when  Christ  heals,  He 
heals  effectually,  and  once  for  all.  The  act  needs  not 
oftentimes  to  be  repeated^  ;  it  cannot  be  repeated 
by  any  series  of  acts  at  all  answering  to  the  repe- 
tition of  communions.  To  suggest,  therefore,  that 
for  the  health  of  the  soul  it  is  indispensable,  or  even 
expedient,  to  repair  to  the  Holy  Communion  every 
week,  or,  in  some  cases,  every  day,  is  to  suggest  a 
course  which  has  nothing  in  common  with  those 
incidents  in  the  Gospel,  which,  if  they  are  designed 
to  teach  us  anything,  are  designed  to  teach  us  the 
fulness  and  the  freeness  of  Christ's  redemption,  and 
to  show  us  the  mode  and  method  in  which  it  acts. 

It  seems  to  follow,  therefore,  and  the  history  of 
the  repetition  of  communions  serves  to  show,  that  the 
theory  expressed  by  them  is  different  from  that 
which  is  proposed  to  us  in  the  historical  gospels  and 
in  the  Apostolical  epistles.  At  all  events  there  is 
nothing  in  the  New  Testament  which  can  be  alleged 
in  support  of  daily  communions  as  a  desirable  means 
of  grace, — unless  it  can  be  assumed  that  the  act 
of  communion  is  identical  with  something  which  is 
otherwise  expressed  or  implied  in  the  language  of  it. 
And  if  this  is  not  so,  it  becomes  more  than  doubtful 
whether  the  over-repetition  of  the  act  of  communion 

»  Cf.  Heb.  vii.  27,  ix.  25—28,  x.  14—18. 

-^.^     oar     ^x^.jj 


xviii  PREFACE. 

does  not  argue  a  confusion  between  the  means  and 
the  end,  the  significant  act,  and  the  thing  which  the 
act  signifies.  The  act  of  communion  implies  a  par- 
ticipation of  Christ,  but  upon  one  condition  only, 
which  is  that  of  faith.  And  this  means  not  that  I 
partake  of  Christ  in  the  communion  because  I  believe, 
and  by  means  of  my  believing  that  He  is  present  in 
the  communion  ;  but  that  I  partake  of  Christ  when 
I  believe  and  by  means  of  my  believing  in  Him.  It 
is  He  and  He  only  who  is  the  life  and  significance  of 
the  communion  ;  the  act  of  communion  itself,  there- 
fore, is  invalid  unless  I  see  Him,  and  see  Him  aright 
— -yea,  unless  I  believe  on  Him  to  the  saving  of  the 
soul,  for  "  the  mean  whereby  the  Body  of  Christ  is 
received  and  eaten  in  the  Supper  is  Faith."  ^  But 
clearly  to  believe  in  the  Holy  Communion  as  the 
means  of  applying  Christ's  salvation  is  something 
very  different  from  believing  in  Jesus  to  the  saving 
of  the  soul,  and  is  it  not  possible  that  the  very 
repetition  of  the  act  of  communion  may  be  resorted 
to,  because  even  in  the  Holy  Communion  itself 
there  is  no  saving  apprehension  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
Can  the  ever-recurrent  hunger  for  the  repetition  of 
the  means  be  compatible  with  that  coming  to  Him 
of  which  He  said  that  whosoever  so  came  should 
never  hunger  ? 

'Art.  xxviii. 


PREFACE. 


It  was  soon  found,  however,  that  even  the  con- 
tinual repetition  of  the  act  of  communion  was  in- 
adequate to  accompHsh  the  end  desired  unless  it 
was  supplemented  and  corroborated  by  something 
else.  And  hence  arose  silently,  secretly,  gradually 
and  insidiously  the  restoration  of  the  practice  of 
sacramental  confession  to  the  priest,  which  has  in- 
creased to  an  unknown  and  incalculable  extent.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  is  an  intrinsic  dif- 
ference between  spiritual  counsel  and  advice,  and  the 
habit  of  sacramental  confession.  This  is  often  for- 
gotten by  the  advocates  of  the  latter,  who  maintain 
that  a  practice  analogous  in  its  essence  to  the  confes- 
sion of  the  Roman  Church  is  to  be  found  in  those  of 
various  reformed  and  evangelical  bodies.  The  truth 
is  that  the  two  practices  are  essentially  and  intrin- 
sically different.  When  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  asked 
Philip  the  Evangelist,  /  pray  thee,  of  whom  speaketh 
the  prophet  this^  of  himself  or  of  some  other  man  ?  and 
in  reply  to  his  question,  U nderstandest  thou  what 
thou  readest  ?  said,  How  can  I,  except  some  man  should 
guide  me  ?  ^  there  was  no  similarity  or  relation  what- 
ever in  the  incident  recorded  to  the  habit  or  act 
of  auricular  confession  as  practised  by  the  Roman 
Church,  and  of  late  years  revived  in  our  own.  When 
the  jailor  at  Philippi  asked.  What  must  I  do  to  be 

'  Acts  viii.  30,  31, 


PREFACE. 


saved  ?  ^  the  question  was  one  of  mental  perplexity 
and  distress,  and  bore  no  analogy  whatever  to  the 
specific  confession  of  sin.  The  object  of  the  one  act 
is  to  seek  guidance  in  perplexity  and  doubt ;  the 
object  of  the  other  to  obtain  the  repeated  assurance 
of  the  forgiveness  of  ever-recurrent  sin.  This  latter 
is  felt  by  experience  to  be  the  indispensable  con- 
comitant even  of  multiplied  communions,  and  is  thus 
conclusive  evidence  of  the  inability  of  such  commu- 
nions to  give  peace.  And  hence,  under  the  principles 
of  the  Sacramental  system,  we  are  gradually  but 
surely  committed  to  the  entire  paraphernalia  of  an 
organised  priesthood,  and  a  complex  system  of  sacer- 
dotalism. And  this  is  nothing  less  than  an  elaborate 
machinery  of  mediation,  and  of  mediation  not  be- 
tween God  and  the  soul,  but  between  Christ  and  the 
soul.  Instead  of  the  invitation  Come  unto  Me  I  ^  being 
urged  and  acted  upon,  we  are  assured  that  the  only 
effectual  way  of  approaching  Christ  is  through  the 
Sacraments  of  His  own  ordinance,  and  the  only  profit- 
able way  of  approaching  the  Sacraments  is  through 
the  absolution  of  the  priest.  Thus  fetters,  and  a 
chain  of  insupportable  weight  and  of  slavish  bondage  ^ 
are  forged  for  the  enquiring  soul  under  the  vain 
pretext  of  facilitating  its  access  to  the  Saviour.* 

*  Acts  xvi.  30.  '  Cf.  John  viii.  32,  36. 

2  Matt.  xi.  28.  *  Cf.  John  v.  40. 


PREFACE.  xxi 

It  may  seem  as  though  such  language  were  only 
the  commonplace  outcry  of  Protestantism  against  the 
enormities  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  But  it  is  not  so. 
Not  a  word  has  now  been  used  which  does  not  equally 
apply  to  hundreds  and  thousands  of  communicants 
who  boast  of  their  union  and  membership  with  the 
English  Church.  This  is  the  doctrine  and  practice 
which  is  inculcated  upon  a  very  large  number  of  con- 
gregations throughout  the  land.  It  is  unquestionably 
one  of  the  signs  of  the  times. 

But  how  is  it  to  be  interpreted  t  How  is  it  to  be 
dealt  with  .?  There  is  and  can  be  but  one  interpre- 
tation. Such  teaching  and  practice  is  significant, 
and  can  only  be  significant  of  a  return  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Church  of  Rome.  It  is  not  to  be  denied 
that  a  very  large  portion  of  the  English  Church  at 
the  present  day  is  not  only  unduly  and  extravagantly 
enamoured  of  the  principles  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
(save  and  except  only  the  dogma  of  papal  supremacy 
and  infallibility)  but  can  find  no  rest  or  satisfaction 
except  as  those  principles  are  more  and  more  nearly 
approached,  and  more  and  more  earnestly  embraced. 
It  is  not,  indeed,  everywhere  or  always  that  men 
proceed  to  the  full  length  of  the  principles  and  prac- 
tices indicated,  but  they  among  whom  principles 
identical  in    essence    with  those  of  the    Church  of 


PREFACE. 


Rome  are  adopted  and  acted  upon  are  to  be  counted 
by  thousands  and  by  tens  of  thousands.  What, 
then,  is  to  be  done  ?  The  evil  is  gone  too  far  to  be 
suddenly  checked,  but  one  thing  is  quite  certain, 
there  is  no  use  in  any  longer  concealing  the  fact. 
Every  minister  of  Christ  who  desires  to  be  faithful  to 
his  trust  is  bound  to  expose  and  condemn  it  boldly 
and  unhesitatingly.  It  is  often  supposed  that  the 
less  that  is  said  on  such  topics  the  better,  but  it  is 
too  late  to  hold  one's  peace,  or  to  affect  any  ignor- 
ance of  or  indifference  to  the  magnitude  of  the  evil. 
It  is  high  time  to  cry  aloud^  and  spare  not,  to  lift  up  the 
voice  like  a  trumpet,  to  show  the  Lord's  people  their 
transgression,  and  the  house  of  Jacob  their  sins  ! 

The  fact  of  the  matter  is  this  :  it  is  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  understand  that  the  principle  and 
essence  of  the  Sacramental  system  implies  and  in- 
volves sacerdotalism  or  the  mediation  of  the  priest, 
and  the  principle  and  essence  of  sacerdotalism  implies 
and  involves  the  religion  of  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  it 
is  virtually  and  actually  identical  with  it  in  theory 
and  principle.  If,  therefore,  the  English  Church  owes 
her  very  existence  as  a  separate  and  independent 
Church  to  the  stand  which  she  made  three  hundred 
years   ago  against  the  usurpations,   enormities,  and 

^  Isa.  Iviii.  I. 


PREFACE. 


errors  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  it  is  absurd  to  suppose 
that  we  can  be  loyal  children  of  the  English  Church 
if,  instead  of  continuing  to  make  that  stand,  we  begin 
to  obliterate  the  distinctive  difference  of  principle 
upon  which  it  was  based,  and  throw  ourselves  heart 
and  soul  into  doctrines  and  practices  which  are  alto- 
gether identical  with  those  errors  and  enormities. 
Nor  is  it  possible  that  there  can  be  any  sound  and 
healthy  union  between  elements  and  principles  in 
their  very  nature  opposed.  If  the  very  existence  of 
the  Church  of  England  is  a  witness  that  she  does 
abjure  and  protest  against  Roman  teaching,  how  is 
it  possible  that  there  should  be  more  than  nominal 
union  between  those  who  heartily  protest  against  and 
those  who  systematically  adopt  that  teaching  ?  It 
cannot  be  for  the  strength  and  welfare  of  the  Church 
that  we  should  endeavour  to  slur  the  difference  over, 
or  to  extenuate  and  ignore  it.  Rather  to  do  so  will 
be  fraught  with  imminent  peril  and  with  ultimate 
destruction  to  the  Church. 

A  wiser  plan  would  be  to  look  it  fairly  in  the 
face  and  act  accordingly.  A  house  divided  against 
itself  cannot  stand.  Matters  have  proceeded  to  such 
extremities  that  nothing  but  strenuous  and  vigorous 
action  can  avail.  When  insubordination  enters  an 
army  its  doom  is  sealed.     Nor  can  it  be  otherwise 


PREFACE. 


with  the  Church.  When  constituted  authority  is  set 
at  defiance,  and  every  man  is  content  to  do  only  that 
which  is  right  in  his  own  eyes,  the  time  of  dissolu- 
tion can  hardly  be  far  distant.  If  that  day  is  to  be 
averted,  it  must  surely  be  by  prompt  and  decisive 
measures,  by  bold  and  faithful  utterance.  A  little 
leaven  leaveneth  the  whole  lump.  It  is  patent  that 
Roman  leaven  has  very  largely  pervaded  the  English 
Church.  Let  US  CAST  IT  OUT.  There  can  be  no 
peace  while  it  is  suffered  to  work  insidiously.  There 
is  nothing  more  wearisome  and  useless  than  the  cry, 
Peace  J  peace,  when  there  is  no  peace}  for  peace  is  an 
impossibility  when  incompatible  antagonistic  elements 
are  at  work.  In  every  human  institution  there  must 
doubtless  be  forbearance  and  toleration  on  all  sides. 
It  is  not  desirable  that  the  Church  should  consist  of 
only  one  party;  but  even  opposite  parties  may  be 
loyal  to  a  common  head  or  to  a  common  principle. 
And  those  only  have  no  place  in  the  pale  of  the 
English  Church  who  are  not  loyal  in  the  common 
stand  that  should  be  made  against  the  common 
foes  of  Romanism  and  unbelief. 

The  fundamental  principle  of  the  English  Church 
is  the  recognition  of  the  supreme  authority  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  readiness  to  be  bound  by  its  decisions  in 

*  Jer.  vi.  14. 


PREFACE. 


every  question,  as  by  a  court  of  ultimate  appeal.  It 
acknowledges  the  volume  of  Revelation  to  be  the 
sole  fountain  of  the  knowledge  of  eternal  life,  and 
believes  that  by  the  ministry  of  the  Word  the  sick 
may  be  made  whole  and  the  dead  be  quickened  into 
life,  but  that  in  no  case  can  this  be  brought  about 
but  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  one 
side,  and  by  the  exercise  of  personal  faith  on  the 
other.^ 

But  when  the  Sacrament  of  Christ's  body  and 
blood  is  made  the  centre  of  all  Christian  life  and 
practice,  there  is  always  room  for  grave  anxiety  lest 
the  mind  should  be  corrupted  from  the  simplicity  that  is 
in  Christ?  Under  certain  limits  a  Sacramental  form 
of  religion  is  fairly  within  the  scope  of  the  English 
formularies,  but  when  the  Sacrament  is  made  the  pivot 
of  all  individual  life  and  of  all  public  worship  it  has 
unquestionably  usurped  the  place  of  Christ  Himself  as 
the  sole  sufficient  and  sufficing  object  of  faith.  The 
apprehension,  however,  of  Christ  as  the  simple  and 
sole  object  of  faith  is  an  act  too  sublimated  and 
transcendental  for  the  natural  heart,  which,  therefore, 
thankfully  takes  refuge  in  a  sensuous  worship  of  out- 
ward and  visible  signs.  So  thoroughly  is  this  the 
case  that  the  practice  has  become  very  common  in 

*  Acts  XV.  8,  9  ;  xvi.  14;  xiv.  i.  '2  Cor.  xi.  3.   ^ 


PREFACE, 


the  English  Church  of  being  present  at  the  rite  of 
communion  without  communicating.  As  soon  as 
this  practice  is  adopted,  the  motive  for  the  frequent 
repitition  of  communions,  derived  from  a  particular 
interpretation  of  and  inference  from  our  Lord's  lan- 
guage about  eating  His  flesh  and  drinking  His  blood, 
is  withdrawn,  and  a  custom  is  introduced  for  which 
there  is  no  Scripture  warrant  whatever,  and  which 
is  by  implication  contrary  to  the  intention  of  the 
English  Communion  Service. 

Another  significant  indication  of  the  tendency  of 
a  certain  phase  of  religious  teaching  is  the  establish- 
ment and  restoration  of  duplicate  altars  in  churches ; 
a  thing  in  itself  perhaps  innocent,^  and  always, 
probably,  to  be  excused  on  the  ground  of  con- 
venience or  symmetry,  and  the  like;  but  assuredly 
only  to  be  explained  upon  the  hypothesis  of  a 
Sacramental  religion  having  been  confessedly  ac- 
cepted as  the  expression  and  agency  of  the  ministry 
of  reconciliation.  But  this  should  be  distinctly  un- 
derstood in  every  case,  for  the  ministry  of  recon- 
ciliation is  the  ministry  of  the  word^  which  operates 
hy  belief  of  the  truth^  and  not  by  participation  in  any 
outward  rites,  be  they  what  they  may.* 

In   short,  it  is  undeniable  and  only  too  manifest 

*  But  cf.  Hosea  viii.  ii.  '2  Thess.  ii.  13;  John  viii.  32. 

'  2  Cor.  V.  18,  19.  *  Gal.  v.  6  ;  vi.  15;  i  Cor.  vii.  19. 


PREFACE. 


that  great  efforts  are  being  made  in  the  English 
Church  to  turn  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
into  the  Romish  Mass.  And  it  is  not  too  much  to 
say  when  this  is  done  that  the  principle  affirmed  is 
that  of  a  different  Gospel  which  is  not  another}  If 
we  are  only  saved  by  Christ's  death  through  receiving 
its  benefits  in  the  Sacrament,  then  there  is  an  end  to 
the  Gospel  as  proclaimed  by  Christ  Himself,  God  so 
loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only-begotten  Sony 
that  whosoever  helieveth  in  Him  should  not  perish 
but  have  everlasting  life?"  And  that  this  is  virtually 
the  case  is  shown  by  an  assertion  openly  made  some 
years  ago  by  an  Oxford  divine  of  the  highest  note 
in  favour  of  sacerdotal  religion,  "  There  is  not  one 
word  in  Holy  Scripture  of  our  applying  to  ourselves 
fhe  promises  of  the  Gospel;"^  that  is  to  say,  they  can 
only  be  applied  through  the  machinery  of  the  priest 
and  the  Sacraments.  This  is  not  the  place  to  argue 
the  abstract  question,  it  is  enough  to  draw  attention 
to  the  fact  that  such  teaching  has  very  deeply  pene- 
trated and  permeated  the  English  Church,  and  is 
openly  advocated  in  a  thousand  churches  as  the  true 
way  of  salvation,  while  at  the  same  time  it  is  iden- 
tical in  principle  with  the  teaching  of  the  Church  of 
^  Gal.  i.  6,  7. 

*  John  iii.  16. 

'  See  the  well-known  Sermons  entitled  Entire  Absolution  of  the 
Penitent,  .. -:'  '    . 


PREFACE, 


Rome,  and  is  fundamentally  opposed   to  the  whole 
spirit  and  principle  of  the  prayer-book. 

The  entire  fabric  of  the  Sacramental  system  rests 
upon  the  fatal  theory  of  post-baptismal  sin.  In  a 
church  in  which  the  great  majority  of  members 
are  baptised  in  infancy,  the  question  of  post-bap- 
tismal sin  must  always  be  one  of  the  greatest 
urgency.  And  it  is  a  question  which  Scripture  has 
left,  comparatively  speaking,  unanswered,  unless  the 
answer  which  applies  to  all  other  sin  applies  also 
to  that.  The  assumption  of  the  Sacramental  theory 
is  that  it  does  not,  and  hence  the  opening  for 
the  elaborate  organisation  of  the  religion  of  the 
priest  ;  an  organisation,  however,  which  is  not 
even  sketched  in  outline  in  the  writings  of  the  New 
Testament,  nor,  indeed,  in  those  of  the  Apostolical 
Fathers.  Scripture,  however,  has  by  anticipation 
answered  and  effectually  demolished  this  theory  by 
the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  The  whole  drift  and 
tenour  of  that  Epistle  is  absolutely  fatal  to  the  Sacra- 
mental system.  Furthermore,  Scripture  strenuously 
r.efuses  to  discriminate  between  kinds  of  sin.  It  tells 
us  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh 
away  the  SIN  of  the  world}  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
shall  convince  the  world  of  sin^  and  that  the  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin}     The  words 

»  John  i.  29.  ^  John  xvi.  8.  *  i  John  i.  7. 


PREFACE, 


must  refer  in  the  last  case  to  the  Christian  Church 
when  past  her  infancy,  and  therefore  necessarily  in- 
clude post-baptismal  sin.  We  must  decide,  there- 
fore, whether  we  will  deal  with  sins  after  bap- 
tism as  we  should  with  those  before  it,  or  whether 
they  come  under  another  category  and  must  be 
dealt  with  otherwise.  In  the.  onei  case  we  meet 
them  with  the  proclamation  of  the  word  of  faith, 
in  the  other  by  the  religion  of  the  priest  and  the 
Sacramental  system. 

But  it  is  highly  important  to  observe  that  the 
two  principles  are  directly  antagonistic  and  mutually 
destructive.  One  is  the  principle  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  the  other  is  that  of  the  Reformed  Church  of 
England,  as  it  unquestionably  is  that  of  the  Gospel 
itself.  The  message  of  the  Gospel  appeals  to  faith 
as  the  one  only  indispensable  pre- requisite  in  the 
heart  of  man.  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and 
thou  shalt  be  saved}  If  thou  believest  with  all  thine 
heart  thou  mayesf^  be  baptised.  It  will  doubtless  be 
said  by  the  advocates  of  the  Sacramental  system  that 
these  were  words  addressed  to  the  jailor  at  Philippi 
and  to  the  Ethiopian  eunuch,  and  not  to  mankind 
generally,  or  at  all  events  to  recent  converts  ;  but  it 
is  hardly  possible  that  the  people  of  England  with 

*  Acts  xvi.  31.  ^  Acts  viii.  37. 

C 


PREFACE. 


their  open  Bible  can  have  read  it  thus.  They  will 
have  received  from  the  book  its  own  message.  The 
laity,  however,  require  to  be  put  upon  their  guard 
as  to  the  real  principle  involved  in  the  teaching 
which  is  so  attractive  and  so  popular,  in  order  that 
they  may  know  what  it  is  they  choose,  and  may 
not  think  that  they  are  faithful  members  of  the 
Church  of  England  when  they  have  largely  imbibed 
the  essential  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

It  is,  however,  not  a  little  remarkable  that  a 
movement,  which  in  its  beginning  was  wholly  one 
of  doctrine,  should  after  a  while  have  been  mainly 
indebted  for  its  rapid  progress  to  the  development 
of  ritual,  which  was  a  matter  altogether  indifferent  to 
the  original  authors  of  the  movement.  The  East- 
ward Position,  for  example,  was  a  thing  utterly 
unknown  to  John  Henry  Newman  as  vicar  of 
St.  Mary's.  Vestments  not  only  were  not  adopted, 
but  were  never  even  thought  of  for  many  years  after 
the  publication  of  Tract  90.  A  movement  which 
was  eminently  intellectual  when  it  began,  has  deve- 
loped into  the  advocacy  of  puppet  shows  and  child's 
play.  The  popularity  which  the  Eastward  Position 
has  acquired  in  the  last  thirty  years,  before  which  it 
was  rarely  if  ever  practised  in  the  English  Church,  is 
simply  astounding,  and  only  to  be  explained  by  the 


PREFACE.  xxxi 


principle  it  involves.  The  churches  which  have 
adopted  the  Eucharistic  vestments  throughout  the 
kingdom  are  probably  to  be  counted  by  the  hundred.^ 
Are  these  things,  as  some  would  have  us  believe,  of 
no  importance,  or  are  they  not  much  rather  of  the 
most  profound  significance,  and  of  ominous  fore- 
boding to  the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  Church,  not 
to  say  her  safety  ?  It  has  no  doubt  been  found 
prakctically,  that  certain  doctrines  were  far  more 
attractive  with  the  accessories  of  form  and  show  than 
in  the  character  of  dry  theological  statement ;  and 
so  things  in  themselves  as  trifling  and  even  trivial, 
as  the  position  of  the  priest  at  the  altar  and  the 
colour  of  his  robes  have  been  made  the  subject 
of  the  most  deperate  contention,  because  they  were 
the  convenient  instruments  and  appropriate  channels 
for  conveying  doctrines  which,  left  to  themselves, 
would  have  had  but  small  prospect  of  success. 
This  circumstance,  however,  is  no  slight  indication 
of  the  natural  drift  and  tendency  of  a  movement  so 
eminently  intellectual  as  the  *  Catholic  Revival '  was 
in  its  origin  and  first  efforts.  In  view  of  the  re- 
markable aspect  it  now  presents  under  the  form  of 
Ritualism  we  have  reason  to  exclaim,  with  Desde- 
mona, — 

"  O,  most  lame  and  impotent  conclusion  ! " 
^  According  to  Mackeson  thirty-five  in  London  and  the  suburbs. 


PREFACE. 


If  the  Church  of  England  is  to  be  faithful  to  her 
original  calling,  as  a  witness  for  the  saving  power  of 
God's  Word,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  aspect  of 
affairs  at  the  present  time  is  calculated  to  give  rise 
to  the  most  serious  apprehension,  and  the  more  so 
because  there  seems  to  be  a  general  supineness  per- 
vading the  more  influential  both  of  the  clergy  and 
the  laity.  It  may  be  that  little  can  be  done,  or  is 
desirable  to  be  done,  by  repression,  or  by  calling  into 
play  the  machinery  of  the  law.  But  a  vast  amount 
can  be  done  in  all  quarters  by  discouragement  of  the 
evil,  and  by  the  mind  of  the  laity  being  on  the  alert 
and  well  informed.  Is  it  possible  that  the  people  of 
England  will  suffer  the  spiritual  heritage  of  their 
forefathers,  which  was  purchased  for  them  by  the 
blood  of  men  who  were  faithful  unto  death,  to  become 
the  prey  of  false  teachers,  who  will  infallibly  give  her 
over  to  Romish  superstition  and  to  Romish  practices  ? 
Is  it  possible  that  the  laity  will  consent  to  be  beguiled 
of  their  reward  in  possessing  the  pure  and  undefiled 
religion  of  the  true  Word  of  God,  by  receiving  instead 
a  religion  of  priests  and  human  mediators  who  will 
make  merchandise  of  them  with  feigned  words}  and 
draw  their  souls  away  from  the  knowledge  and  prac- 
tice of  the  truth  ?  Is  it  possible  that  the  bulk  of  the 
people  of  this  land  and  Church  can  be  so  blind  as 
^  2  Pet.  ii.  3. 


PREFACE.  xxxiii 

not  to  see  the  magnitude  of  the  dangers  which 
threaten  them  ;  so  indifferent  or  so  infatuated  as 
to  refuse  to  take  warning  against  them  ? 

There  is  something  apparently  so  reverent  and  so 
laudable  in  doing  honour  to  an  ordinance  of  Christ's 
own  appointment,  that  it  is  oftentimes  difficult  to 
persuade  men  that  any  danger  can  lurk  beneath  it. 
But  the  ordinances  of  Christ  are  not  more  sacred 
to  the  Christian  than  the  Divine  ordinance  of  the 
Sabbath  was  to  the  Jew,  and  yet  we  know,  on  the 
authority  of  Christ  Himself,  that  a  superstitious  reve- 
rence for  the  Sabbath  had  destroyed  all  its  mean- 
ing to  the  Jew.  The  Sabbath  was  a  sign  between 
him  and  God,  but  he  had  put  the  sign  in  the  place 
of  God,  and  so  had  both  shut  out  God  and  had  also 
forgotten  the  message  of  the  sign.  Is  it  impossible 
that  Christians  should  do  the  same }  When  we  see 
the  Eucharist  exalted  to  the  position  it  is,  or  may 
we  not  rather  say  degraded} — and  societies  like  the 
Confraternity  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  making  it 
a  kind  of  masonic  badge,  it  is  surely  time  to  re- 
mind our  brethren  that  it  is  possible  to  be  very 
devoted  to  the  blessed  Sacrament,  and  yet  wholly 
ignorant  of  the  benefits  which  flow  from  the  death 
of  Christ,  and  of  the  redemption  through  His  blood. 
It  is  quite  possible  to  believe  in  the  Real  Presence 


xxxiv  PREFACE. 

and  yet  not  believe  in  Christ :  yea,  even  to  be  pre- 
vented from  believing  in  Christ  by  allowing  the 
ordinances  of  Christ  to  come  between  ourselves 
and  Him. 

Let  it  not  be  thought,  however,  that  what  has 
now  been  said  has  been  said  with  any  view  to 
depreciate  the  ordinance  of  Christ  or  to  discourage 
the  practice  of  more  frequent  communions,  the  re- 
storation of  which  we  undoubtedly  owe  to  the  great 
mercy  of  God  towards  our  revived  Church, — but  much 
rather  to  utter  a  seasonable  warning  against  a  misap- 
prehension and  misapplication  of  Christ's  ordinance, 
and  to  suggest  to  the  most  ardent  votaries  of  it  that 
belief  in  Christ  is  after  all  something  more  than 
belief  in  the  Sacrament ;  that  there  Is  a  danger  of 
supposing  the  two  to  be  the  same  ;  that  the  one  is 
the  seal  and  confirmation  of  the  other ;  that  the 
Sacrament  follows  after  faith,  and  is  valid  only  upon 
faith,  while  faith  is  to  be  sought,  not  from  the  Sacra- 
ment, but  from  Him  alone  of  whom  the  Sacrament 
speaks.  Lord,  increase  our  faith}  Lord,  I  believe, 
help  thou  mine  unbelief? 

The  greatest  danger  of  the  Church  of  the  present 
day  is  not  improbably  to  be  found  in  the  vast  amount 
of  machinery  by  which  it  is  sought  to  supplement 

'  Luke  xvii.  5.  *  Mark  ix.  24. 


PREFACE,  XXXV 

and  prepare  the  way  for  faith,  whereas  faith  is  rather 
stifled  and  overlaid  thereby,  and  the  wound  of  the 
Lord's  people  has  been  healed  slightly,^  because  the 
Great  Physician  in  Gilead  has  not  been  sought,  and 
has  not  effectually  applied  His  balm.^  A  variety  of 
indications  show  but  too  plainly  that  in  many  quar- 
ters the  most  elaborate  development  of  the  Sacra- 
mental system  has  been  adopted  without  suspicion 
or  alarm,  while  a  less  pronounced  modification  of  it 
is  now  the  most  fashionable  and  popular  form  of  re- 
ligion. The  one,  however,  is  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  the  preparation  for  the  other,  and  will  inevitably 
grow  into  it ;  and  both  are  alike  fatal  to  the  simple 
enunciation  in  all  its  depth  and  breadth  and  power 
of  the  vital  maxim.  Believe  and  live} 

The  danger  of  the  Church,  however,  arising  from 
the  prevalence  of  Romanising  theology  and  the  fas- 
cination of  Roman  practices,  great  as  it  is,  is  not 
the  only  one  in  the  present  day.  Wherever  there  is 
superstition  there  is  also  unbelief  And  side  by  side 
with  doctrines  and  customs,  which  belie  the  whole 
character  of  the  Church  as  a  reformed  body,  there 
is  a  spirit  of  doubt  and  denial  abroad,  which  tends 
to  sap  the  very  foundation  of  the  Church's  existence, 

*  Jer.  vi.  14.  '  Jer.  viii.  22.  '  Hab.  ii.  4;  Rom.  i.  17,  etc. 


PREFACE. 


and  to  rob  her  of  her  supernatural  life  and  her  share 
in  the  Divine  nature.^  The  authority  of  Scripture 
is  impugned  or  rejected  as  a  Divine  and  supernatural 
guide.  The  function  of  science  as  a  natural  revela- 
tion of  God  is  exaggerated  at  the  cost  of  the  super- 
natural revelation  in  Scripture,  and  in  forgetfulness 
of  the  supremacy  and  permanence  of  the  moral  re- 
velation in  the  conscience.  While  some  are  shutting 
their  eyes  to  the  true  light  which  lighteih  every  man  ^ 
in  the  personal  revelation  of  the  living  Lord,  and  are 
seeking  it  unadvisedly  in  outward,  albeit  Divinely 
ordained  symbols,  others  are  turning  away  from  it 
altogether  for  the  fatuous  light  which  shines  from 
nature  or  the  scintillations  which  glimmer  from  time 
to  time  in  the  merely  natural  heart.  They  prefer 
to  walk  in  the  light  of  their  own  fire,  and  in  the 
sparks  which  they  have  kindled,  rather  than  in  the 
light  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness. 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  superstition  affords  no 
protection  against  unbelief,  but  is  itself  unbelief  in 
another  form.  The  Church  of  Christ  at  the  present 
day  is  brought  face  to  face  with  questions  affecting 
her  very  life ;  and  to  flee  from  the  struggle  with 
these  questions,  and  to  take  refuge  in  superstition  or 
in  superstitious  practices  is  to  surrender  the  ground  to 

^  2  Pet.  i.  4.  *  John  i.  9. 


PREFACE, 


unbelief.  The  only  engine  which  is  capable  of  fairly 
dealing  with  these  questions  is  the  Divine  revelation 
of  the  Gospel.  That  contains  in  itself  the  highest 
philosophy,  because  it  is  based  upon  an  absolute 
knowledge  of  human  nature.  It  is  the  sure  word  of 
One  who  kneiv  what  was  in  man}  But  the  Gospel 
itself  is  powerless  unless  it  is  implicitly  believed,  and 
has  produced  the  moral  and  spiritual  regeneration 
consequent  upon  belief.  It  then  becomes  invin- 
cible^  because,  being  the  very  truth  itself,  it  is  the 
touchstone  of  falsehood  ;  and  though  falsehood  may 
again  and  again  raise  its  head  in  one  of  its 
myriad  forms,  and  for  a  time  lead  captive  many, 
yet  truth  will  ever  ultimately  detect,  expose,  and 
overthrow  it. 

An  immense  amount  of  harm  is  done  when  the 
revelation  of  the  Gospel  is  represented,  as  it  too 
often  is,  as  being  so  vague  and  uncertain  as  to  give 
scope  for  every  variety  of  opinion.  Those  who  are 
interested  in  thus  representing,  or  rather  misrepre- 
senting it,  certainly  do  little  honour  to  the  human 
understanding.  If  the  Bible  is  regarded  as  a  Divine 
book  we  can  conceive  no  object  in  its  being  given 
in  language  unintellible  to  the  human  mind,  or  so 
expressed  as  that  its  broad  message  should  be  un- 

'  John  ii.  25. 


xxxviii  PREFACE. 

discoverable  ;  and  one  of  the  most  obscure  of  the 
prophets  was  bidden  to  write  his  vision  so  plain  that 
he  who  ran  might  read  it  running.^  If  the  Bible  is 
regarded  as  a  human  book  then  it  is  still  more  un- 
warrantable to  assume  that  its  general  meaning  or 
message  is  impossible  to  be  ascertained.  Is  the 
general  message  of  "  Hamlet,"  of  "  Paradise  Lost,"  or 
of  Homer's  "  Iliad "  such  that  the  ordinary  mind 
cannot  grasp  it  ?  And  can  we  honestly  say  that  any 
of  these  as  a  human  production,  is  more  easy  of  com- 
prehension than  St.  Mark  or  St.  John  }  Can  the 
ordinary  mind  take  in  the  broad  message  of  Bacon 
or  Hooker,  and  yet  fail  to  perceive  the  general  drift 
of  one  of  St.  Paul's  epistles.  Then  if  so,  verily  St. 
Paul  cannot  have  been  the  great  writer  we  supposed 
him.  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  general  impression 
left  by  the  study  of  the  Gospel  is  indubitable  and 
unvarying.  It  only  becomes  a  subject  of  obscurity 
or  uncertainty  when  other  considerations  enter  in 
and  confuse  our  mental  vision,  or  cloud  the  '  dry 
light '  in  which  we  should  regard  it  if  our  minds  were 
free  from  bias  and  prejudice. 

"  Knowledge  is  easy,"  we  are  told,  "  to  him  that 
hath    understanding,"    and    assuredly    it   would    be 
doing  wrong  to  the  Divine  knowledge  of  salvation 
»  Hab.  ii.  2. 


PREFACE, 


imparted  by  the  Gospel  to  assume  the  contrary  of 
that.  But,  in  point  of  fact,  we  may  safely  affirm 
that  the  vast  majority  of  Christians,  of  whatever 
denomination — Greek,  Roman,  Anglican,  Protestant, 
Evangelical — are  all  agreed  on  the  central  elements 
of  their  faith.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
entire  body  of  Christians  throughout  the  world 
nominally  accept  the  Apostles'  Creed  as  the  symbol 
of  their  common  belief ;  the  exceptions  are  so  in- 
considerable that  practically  they  may  be  disre- 
garded. Christianity  is  eminently  a  religion  of 
Divine  facts.  It  is  impossible  that  these  Divine 
facts  can  be  held  in  their  integrity  and  their  sim- 
plicity without  producing  in  the  mind  certain  results. 
It  is  the  philosophy  of  these  results  that  generates 
Christian  doctrine,  at  least  in  certain  branches.  And 
then,  as  a  further  consequence,  doctrine  becomes  sub- 
stituted for  fact  But  fact  being  the  central  germ  of 
doctrine  has  the  tendency  to  unite  and  combine, 
whereas  the  tendency  of  doctrine  is  to  divide  and 
subdivide.  >  The  only  way,  therefore,  in  which 
Christians  who  have  received  facts  through  doc- 
trines, and  have  become  separated  in  doing  so,  can 
be  reunited,  is  by  gathering  round  the  central 
common  facts,  and  learning  to  view  them  in  the 
'  dry  light '  of  reality,  and  yielding  themselves  to 
the  natural  influence  of  their  Divine  power. 


xl  PREFACE. 

For  example,  it  must  be  vastly  more  essential  to 
believe  that  Jesus  Christ  died^  and  that  He  died  for 
our  sins^  than  to  believe  any  one  particular  theory 
about  the  cause,  nature,  or  consequences  of  His  death. 
Now  all  Christians  are  agreed  upon  the  Scripture 
statement  of  these  facts.  It  is  about  the  theories 
invented  for  them  and  the  doctrines  deduced  from 
them  that  they  begin  to  differ,  ^^ut  surely  it  is 
in  the  simple  facts  that  the  Gospel  message  lies, 
and  in  the  facts  that  its  vitality  is  enshrined.  If, 
therefore,  we  would  receive  the  vital  message  of 
the  Gospel,  it  must  be  by  clinging  to  the  reality  of 
the  facts  rather  than  by  stopping  short  in  the  doc- 
trines which  are  based  upon  or  deduced  from  them. 

It  is,  therefore,  no  slight  indication  of  the  Divine 
forethought  which  kept  watch  over  the  Church  that 
in  its  early  manhood,  and  while  it  was  yet  one,  the 
Apostolic  Creed  of  Christendom  was  framed,  we 
know  not  how,  which  yet  survives  as  the  recognised 
symbol  of  our  faith.  In  that  we  breathe  the  atmos- 
phere of  fact  rather  than  of  doctrine,  and  assuredly 
if  its  witness  is  accepted  in  all  its  length,  and 
breadth,  and  depth,  and  height,  its  fulness,  meaning, 
and  vitality,  it  will  be  found  to  be  not  only  a  rallying- 
point  for  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sin- 
cerity^ but    also    will    supply   the   truest  and  most 

*  I  Cor.  XV.  3.  ^  Eph.  vi.  24. 


PREFACE,  xH 

powerful  corrective  for  the  errors  and  follies  of  our 
time,  whether  they  consist  in  a  tendency  to  reject 
the  Divine  and  supernatural  elements  of  the  faith, 
or  in  a  desire  to  supplement  and  to  overlay  it  by 
the  pernicious  machinery  of  unscriptural  and  unau- 
thorised human  additions. 

Stanley  Leathes. 


),  St.  George's  Square,  S.W. 
Sept.  24M,  1877. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

I.   I   BELIEVE I 

II.   IN  GOD 13 

III.   THE  FATHER r          -  23 

IV.  ALMIGHTY 35 

V.   MAKER  OF  HEAVEN  AND  EARTH     -          -          -          -  47 

VI.  AND   IN  JESUS            -          -          -          -          -          -          -  59 

VII.   CHRIST ^          -          -          -  71 

VIII.  HIS  ONLY  SON 83 

IX.   OUR  LORD          ------..  95 

X.  WHO  WAS  CONCEIVED   BY  THE  HOLY  GHOST,   BORN 

OF  THE  VIRGIN  MARY  -          -          -          -          -  I07 

XI.   SUFFERED  UNDER  PONTIUS  PILATE           -          -          -  II9 

XII.  WAS  CRUCIFIED I3I 

XIII.  DEAD 143 

XIV.  AND  BURIED I55 

XV.    HE  DESCENDED  INTO  HELL 1 67 

XVI.  THE     THIRD     DAY    HE     ROSE     AGAIN     FROM    THE 

DEAD 179 


xliv  CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

XVII.   THE    THIRD    DAY    HE    ROSE    AGAIN    FROM'  THE 

DEAD  {Continued) 191 

XVIII.   THE  THIRD    DAY    HE    ROSE    AGAIN    FROM    THE 

DEAD  {Continued) 205 

XIX.   HE  ASCENDED   INTO   HEAVEN       -  -  -  -   21/ 

XX.   AND    SITTETH    ON    THE    RIGHT    HAND    OF    GOD 

THE  FATHER  ALMIGHTY         -  -  -  -   229 

XXI.   FROM     THENCE     HE     SHALX     COME     TO    JUDGE 

THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD-  -  -  -   243 

XXII.   FROM     THENCE     HE     SHALL     COME     TO     JUDGE 

THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD  {Continued)      -  255 

XXIII.    FROM     THENCE     HE    SHALL    COME     TO     JUDGE 

THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD  {Continued)      -  267 

XXIV.   I   BELIEVE   IN  THE  HOLY  GHOST         -  -  -   279 

XXV.  I  BELIEVE  IN  THE  HOLY  GHOST  {Continued)  -  293 

XXVI.  I  BELIEVE  IN  THE  HOLY  GHOST  {Continued)  -  305 

XXVII.  THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  -          -          -  -   317 

XXVIII.  THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  {Continued)  -  329 

XXIX.  THE  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS       -  -  -  -  341 

XXX.   THE  FORGIVENESS  OF  SINS  -  -  -  -  353 

XXXI.  THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY  -  -  -  365 

XXXII.  AND  THE  LIFE  EVERLASTING      -  -  -  -  377 


I. 

/  BELIEVE. 

Lord,  I  believe  :  help  Thou  mine  unbelief. — St.  Mark  ix.  24. 

'nr^HE  cry  of  the  distracted  father  of  the  demoniac 
^  at  his  child's  distressing  condition  and  his  own 
powerlessness  to  help  him  doubtless  expresses  the 
feelings  of  many  persons  in  the  present  day.  The 
complaint  is  often  made,  sometimes  with  sorrow,  and 
not  seldom  with  triumph,  that  the  foundations  of 
faith  are  being  overthrown,  and  men's  hold  on  Chris- 
tianity is  slackening.  There  is  unquestionably  some- 
thing of  truth  in  this,  and  something  also  to  regret. 
But  it  is  not  without  its  better  and  brighter  side 
also.  Nothing  can  be  worse  than  stagnation  of 
thought.  It  was  an  unhealthy  condition  of  things 
when  all  was  taken  for  granted,  when  authority  was 
invoked  to  stifle  enquiry,  and  those  who  thought  at 
all  thought  only  as  their  fathers  had  thought  before 
them ;  and  when  within  the  limits  of  the  Church,  at 
least,  everything  was  supposed  to  have  been  settled 
once  for  all  at  the  Reformation,  or  at  the  last  re- 
vision of  the  Prayer-Book. 

Now  we   are  becoming  familiar  with  a  state  of 
things  totally  different.      Nothing  is  supposed  to  be 


THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 


settled  ;  authority,  of  whatever  kind,  is  challenged  ; 
prescription  has  a  bad  name  ;  Christianity  itself  is 
on  its  trial  ;  and  novelty,  whether  in  practice  or  in 
thought,  is  regarded  as  a  recommendation. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  to  teach  a  man  to 
think  for  himself  is  the  ultimate  object  of  education. 
Unless  a  man  can  think  for  himself  his  thoughts  are 
not  likely  to  be  of  much  use  to  any  one  else.  But 
if  a  man  thinks  for  himself  he  is  as  likely  to  think 
wrong  as  to  think  right,  or  at  least  the  privilege  of 
being  allowed  to  think  right  will  not  protect  him 
from  the  liability  to  think  wrong ;  and  if  all  men 
think  for  themselves  it  is  perfectly  certain  that  they 
will  not  all  think  alike. 

Putting  aside,  however,  the  abstract  merits  and 
demerits  of  our  present  position,  as  not  worth  de- 
bating, it  is  obvious  that  our  only  practical  course  is 
to  accept  it.  Alter  it  we  cannot,  act  in  it  we  must. 
We  have  not  brought  ourselves  into  this  state  of 
trial,  but  have  been  placed  in  it  by  the  force  of  cir- 
cumstances over  which  we  had  no  control.  Some 
would  have  done  what  they  could  to  prevent  or  to 
retard  its  advent,  but  to  no  purpose,  for  come  it 
must  and  would,  and  our  only  wisdom  now  is  to 
adapt  ourselves  to  circumstances,  to  make  the  most 
of  our  advantages,  to  be  patient  and  to  deal  pru- 
dently with  our  drawbacks. 

It  is  one  of  the  features  of  olir  position  that 
creeds  and  formularies  are  with  many  the  special 
objects    of  aversion.     The  notion  of  a  stereotyped 


/  BELIEVE. 


expression  of  thought  is  conceived  of  as  absurd 
on  the  face  of  it.  Thought  must  either  be  fettered 
or  be  free:  if  it  is  to  be  expressed  in  creeds  it  must 
be  fettered,  if  it  is  to  be  free  it  must  dispense  with 
them. 

In  the  view,  therefore,  of  all  these  considerations ^ 
it  would  seem  that  to  discourse  rationally  and 
frankly  on  the  articles  of  the  Christian  faith  would 
not  be  otherwise  than  beneficial  to  many.  To  take 
the  several  topics,  for  example,  which  are  implied 
and  summarised  in  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  treat 
them  in  a  candid,  intelligent,  and  at  the  same  time 
reverential  manner,  will  assuredly  be  found,  we  may 
trust,  useful  and  likewise  interesting  to  many.  It 
may  be  presumed  that  all  those  at  least  who  are 
in  the  habit  of  attending  the  public  worship  of  the 
Church,  and  repeating  on  every  occasion  the  sig- 
nificant formula,  /  believe^  have  as  yet  not  broken 
with  that  time-honoured  symbol  of  our  faith,  which 
is  the  cherished  memorial  of  our  baptism  and  of 
our  confirmation,  and  is  probably  that  profession  in 
which  we  hope  to  die.  On  the  other  hand,  it  cannot 
be  doubted  that  there  are  many  of  us  who  at  times 
are  sorely  perplexed  by  various  points  concerning  it ; 
that  thought  and  enquiry,  in  spite  of  ourselves,  will 
arise  and  confront  us,  and  refuse  to  be  put  aside, 
even  if  it  were  desirable  to  do  so  ;  and  that  conse- 
quently to  have  wholesome  and  substantial  food  for 
thought  presented  to  us,  would  be  an  advantage  not 
lightly  to  be  esteemed.     It  is  with  this  hope  that  we 


THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 


enter  on  the  present  course  of  lectures,  trusting  that 
by  the  Divine  blessing  they  may  be  found  helpful 
and  salutary  to  many.  We  have  neither  the  wish 
nor  the  intention  to  disturb  the  faith  of  any  one. 
Our  purpose  is  to  establish,  not  to  destroy ;  but  since 
we  can  hardly  imagine  the  case  of  a  thinking  person 
who  is  not  also  at  times  a  perplexed  or  even  a 
doubting  person,  we  will  endeavour  to  meet  such 
perplexities  and  doubts,  and  yet,  if  it  may  be,  not 
suggest  them.  Still,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
to  a  certain  extent  it  is  impossible  not  to  do  this, 
and  it  may  be  questioned  whether  it  is  altogether  de- 
sirable. The  objection  was  brought  against  Bishop 
Butler's  famous  Analogy  that  it  raised  more  ques- 
tions than  it  solved.  However  this  may  be,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  value  of  that  treatise, 
or  the  desirableness  of  its  having  been  written, 
being,  as  it  is,  perhaps,  the  most  precious  heirloom 
of  English  theology.  We  must  still  believe  that 
to  think,  and  to  be  able  to  think,  and  to  be  allowed 
to  think,  with  all  its  perilous  responsibilities,  is  a 
greater  privilege  than  to  have  no  thought  at  all,  or 
only  such  thought  as  we  are  on  sufferance  allowed 
to  have. 

Now  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  are 
three  periods  in  the  history  of  human  thought  and 
of  the  human  mind.  The  first  is  the  period  of  child- 
hood and  youth,  when  every  story  is  believed  to  be 
true,  when  faith  is  unwavering,  when  we  accept  what 
is   told   us,  when  we    simply  apprehend,  or    retain, 


/  BELIEVE.  § 


or  reflect  the  sentiments  and  the  beliefs  of  others. 
Probably  no  one  would  be  willing  to  affirm  that  this 
condition  of  mind  is,  in  the  abstract,  a  really  desir- 
able one  ;  pleasing  and  enjoyable  it  may  perhaps 
be,  but  hardly  in  itself  a  good,  or  at  least  not  the 
greatest  good. 

But  whether  it  is  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  we 
outgrow  it.  We  pass  from  it  in  spite  of  ourselves 
into  the  second  stage,  which  is  one  of  enquiry,  dis- 
crimination, hesitation,  and  doubt.  Whereas  before 
we  were  happy  in  believing  everything,  now  we 
scarcely  think  ourselves  wise  if  we  do  not  doubt 
everything.  It  is  the  result  of  a  worldly-wise 
experience, — the  maxim  that  the  man  is  a  fool 
who  believes  all  he  hears. 

Now  these  two  stages  or  conditions  of  thought 
which  formerly  applied  for  the  most  part  to  all  sub- 
jects except  the  Christian  faith,  have  been  found  in 
our  own  time  to  exempt  not  even  that.  It  is  this 
inherited  possession  of  the  Christian  Creed  which 
has  now  in  its  turn  been  dealt  with  as  any  other 
possession.  Men  treat  it  with  no  more  deference 
than  anything  else  which  they  have  accepted  on 
authority  and  believed  traditionally.  It  is  ques- 
tioned, attacked,   rejected. 

This  is  true  of  our  age.  But  it  is  true  also  of  the 
individual.  First  there  comes  the  period  of  implicit 
belief,  secondly  there  comes  the  period  of  incipient 
doubt  or  explicit  denial.  But  there  is  yet  a  third 
stage,  which,  though  indeed  it  is  not  reached  by  all, 


THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 


is,  at  any  rate,  reserved  for  some.  And  this  is 
the  stage  when,  after  having  faith  shaken  to  the 
very  centre,  or  having  actually  surrendered  it,  we 
are  enabled  to  emerge  from  a  stage  of  perplexity, 
difficulty,  doubt,  or  restlessness,  to  one  of  repose 
and  assured  belief  We  are  wiser  for  the  experience 
we  have  undergone.  Our  views  of  truth  are  wider, 
our  grasp  firmer,  our  position  is  very  different  from 
what  it  was  at  first.  We  see  things  with  other  eyes; 
but  the  things  we  see  are  the  same,  though  it  may 
be  we  see  more.  Now  there  can  be  no  doubt  which, 
in  the  abstract,  is  the  highest  and  most  desirable  of 
these  three  conditions,  that  of  the  unquestioning  child, 
or  that  of  the  thoughtful  and  mature  man.  Neither 
can  there  be  any  doubt  that  the  three  stages  repre- 
sent a  natural  and  consistently  progressive  series, 
in  which  as  the  third  is  higher  than  the  second  so 
also  the  second  is  higher  than  the  first.  It  is 
indeed  most  undesirable  to  stop  at  the  second,  but 
so  also  is  it  to  stop  at  the  first.  To  carry  into 
mature  manhood  the  intellectual  development  of  a 
child  is  not  only  undesirable  but  unnatural. 

But  may  we  not  say  that  to  find  ourselves  in 
declining  years  with  nothing  but  the  restlessness  of 
youth  or  manhood  for  our  portion  is  equally  un- 
desirable, if  not  unnatural }  The  spectacle  of  an  old 
man  who  is  still  hampered  and  oppressed  with  the 
labour  and  anxiety  of  sturdier  age  is  certainly  pain- 
ful. If  rest  and  repose  are  to  be  obtained  they  must 
in    tliemselves   be   good.     Now  it   is  precisely  this 


/  BELIEVE. 


second  stage  of  thought  which  is  characteristic  of 
our  own  day.  Everything  is  unstable,  unsettled, 
anxious,  restless.  But  the  misapprehension  which  is 
only  too  common,  is  that  this  condition  is  other 
than  transitional.  That  it  is  necessary,  inevitable, 
and  a  symptom  of  progress,  we  do  not  deny ;  but  it 
is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  it  is  in  itself  a 
final  state,  or  that  the  very  law  of  progress  does  not 
require  it  to  be  succeeded  by  another.  Let  us  by 
all  means  avail  ourselves  to  the  very  utmost  of  the 
experience  we  have  gained;  let  us  not  reject  any 
wider  views  that  a  longer  toil,  if  it  be  circuitous,  up 
the  mountain  of  life,  has  perchance  given  us;  by  all 
means  let  us  profit  by  the  past  and  improve  the 
present ;  but  let  us  at  least  not  stay  where  we  are. 
The  human  soul  cannot  be  sustained  on  doubt  any 
more  than  the  body  can  live  on  air;  the  mountain 
breezes  may  be  very  salutary,  but  they  are  not 
sufificing.  To  give  up  everything  and  arrive  at 
nothing  is  indeed  to  pass  from  the  first  stage  of 
thought  to  the  second,  but  not  to  pass  from  the 
second  to  the  third;  and  this  we  must  do  if  we 
would  be  saved,  for  there  is  no  salvation  in  resting 
where  we  are. 

And  our  own  age  is  not  the  only  one  which  has  illus- 
trated the  same  truth.  In  the  infancy  of  the  world 
— that  is  to  say,  before  Christ  came — mankind  were 
in  the  first  stage  of  thought, — they  rested  contentedly 
in  various  absurd  beliefs.  When  Jesus  stood  before 
Pilate,  and  Pilate  asked  Him,  What  is  truth  1  then 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 


the  second  stage  had  been  reached.  Scepticism  had 
eaten  into  the  received  reh'gion.  Men  were  growing 
weary  of  it.  In  many  cases  they  had  rejected  it. 
Pilate's  case  was  one.  But  there  came  a  third  stage. 
He  before  whom  Pilate  stood,  by  the  silent  but 
irresistible  verdict  of  history,  asserted  Himself  as 
the  Truth  of  which  Pilate  despaired ;  and  the  throne 
of  the  Caesars  became,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  pos- 
session of  the  Christ. 

The  third  stage  for  a  time  was  reached.  But  it 
was  only  for  a  time.  The  third  stage  again  became 
the  first, — the  mature  age  of  the  Church  relapsed 
into  dotage.  Everything  was  accepted  with  implicit 
credulity,  till  credulity  gave  place  to  scepticism;  and 
when  Innocent  III.  and  Leo  X.  sat  in  the  so-called 
chair  of  Peter,  the  second  stage  had  been  reached 
once  more.  Then  came  the  glorious  career  of  the 
noble  and  heroic  Luther,  whose  preaching  made  the 
scepticism  deeper  than  ever,  and  at  the  same  time 
created  earnest  faith;  and  once  more  the  second 
stage  was  succeeded  by  the  third.  How  is  it  now  } 
Judge  for  yourselves,  my  friends.  We — that  is,  the 
majority  of  mankind  (for  some  have  not) — have 
passed  out  of  the  first  stage  into  the  second;  but  it 
is  impossible  that  we  can  stop  there,  let  the  popular 
voice  of  admiration  for  the  prevailing  thought  of  the 
age  be  never  so  loud.  The  lessons  of  history  can- 
not be  lost,  her  teaching  cannot  be  wrong.  The 
destructive  tendency  must  give  place  to  one  con- 
structive, and   the  mind   or   the   minds    must  arise 


I  BELIEVE, 


that  shall  have  the  wisdom  to  erect  out  of  the 
ruins  of  unbelief  a  solid  and  substantial  edifice  of 
faith. 

It  must  be  so,  let  physical  and  metaphysical  science 
vaunt  themselves  as  they  please.  We  cannot  rest  in 
negatives,  and  any  teaching  of  which  the  result  is 
negative  must  give  place  to  one  whose  results  are 
positive  and  substantial. 

Now  the  cry  of  those  who  feel  the  pain  of  this 
transition  state,  who  feel  that  little  by  little  every- 
thing is  being  taken  from  them,  and  nothing  given  in 
its  place,  is,  or  at  least  may  be,  this :  Lord,  I  believe : 
help  Thou  miite  unbelief.  It  is,  at  any  rate,  those, 
and  only  those,  to  whom  I  address  myself, — those 
who  believe  that  the  Lord  of  the  human  spirit  will 
hearken  to  the  agonising  cry  of  His  perplexed  and 
blindfold  children, — those  who  believe  that  a  prayer 
such  as  that  of  the  distracted  father  of  the  demoniac 
cannot  be  proffered  in  vain,  that  there  is  One  who  can 
hear,  and  that  He  will  hear.  There  may  be  those, 
who  are  strangers  to  such  agony,  who  would  call  it  in- 
fatuation or  fanaticism  ;  to  such  I  do  not  speak,  or 
at  least,  not  now.  Their  condition  of  thought  may 
be  that  of  the  first  stage  or  of  the  third ;  if  of  the 
latter,  they  also  will  appreciate  my  words,  for  the 
effect  of  them  will  be  to  make  their  hold  of  truth 
more  firm,  their  standing-ground  more  stable  and 
secure  ;  but  even  the  others  I  would  hope  will  be 
able  to  listen  also,  not  without  a  certain  degree  of 
profit.     It  is    one  class  only  to    whom  the    words 


lo  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

spoken  will  be  vain  as  wind, — those,  namely,  who 
are  so  well  satisfied  with  their  position  of  doubt  and 
denial  as  not  to  desire  to  change  it  for  any  other; 
who  are  willing  to  ask  with  Pilate,  What  is  truth  ? 
but  are  unwilling  also  like  Pilate  to  wait  for  the 
answer,  because  they  would  rather  believe  there  is 
none.  There  is  only  one  way  in  which  we  can 
characterise  such  persons  :  they  are  not  in  earnest. 
The  gospel  which  presents  a  secure  resting-place  for 
faith  is  not  for  them  ;  they  prefer  the  so-called  free- 
dom of  being  tossed  about  on  the  billows  of  specu- 
lation, without  a  rudder  or  a  compass,  and  with  no 
prospect  of  a  haven,  to  being  steered  across  the 
ocean  to  the  appointed  shore  of  hope. 

But  if  you  ask  me  whether  it  is  requisite  that  in 
ever)^  case  the  condition  of  childish  belief  should 
give  place  to  one  of  doubt  in  order  that  it  may  be 
succeeded  again  by  one  of  firmer  faith,  I  should 
answer,  I  cannot  tell.  The  Lord  does  not  lead  us 
all  by  the  same  road.  I  speak  to  those  whom  He 
is  leading  by  this  road,  and  who  feel  that  they  want 
a  guide,  or  want  to  find  in  Him  their  guide.  But 
I  may  say  that  the  condition  I  describe  is  one  of 
growth.  It  seems  to  me  that  no  one  can  pass 
from  childhood  into  youth,  and  from  youth  to  man- 
hood, and  not  have  his  thoughts  strangely  modified 
on  many,  and  especially  the  most  important,  subjects. 
Such  thoughts  as  God  and  Christ  and  heaven  must 
surely  have  a  vastly  different  meaning  to  the  same 
person  in  childhood   and  in   mature  age,  and  if  so 


/  BELIEVE.  II 


there  must  be  transition,  and  transition  probably 
accompanied  with  very  violent  shocks, — a  giving  up 
of  the  old  and  a  grasping  of  the  new.  We  were  all 
told  something  about  God  when  we  were  children. 
That  may  have  been  true  as  it  was  told  us  then,  but 
if  we  believe  it  now  as  we  believed  it  then,  it  will  not 
be  true  ;  for  if  our  minds  grow,  while  the  faith  with 
which  we  supply  them  grows  not,  the  result  cannot 
be  other  than  incongruous.  Who,  as  a  man,  would 
wear  swaddling  clothes,  or  even  be  content  to  array 
himself  in  the  garments  of  his  childhood  or  his  youth  ? 
When  I  was  a  child  I  thought  as  a  child^  I  under- 
stood as  a  child ;  but  when  I  became  a  man^  I  put 
away  childish  things}  is  true  of  belief  as  it  is  of  other 
matters,  and  pre-eminently  true  of  belief.  And  even 
St.  Paul  himself  had  of  all  men  found  it  most  true, 
for  he  had  passed  through  the  greatest  possible 
transition  when,  having  been  exceedingly  zealous 
of  the  traditions  of  his  fathers,  he  found  that  Christ 
was  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every 
one  that  believeth. 

*  I  Cor.  xiii.  ii. 


13 


II. 

IN  GOD, 

Without  faith  it  is  impo^ible  to  please  Him,  for  he  that  cometh  to 
God  must  believe  that  He  is,  and  that  He  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that 
diligently  seek  Him. — Heb.  xi.  6. 

IN  speaking  in  the  last  lecture  of  the  three  pro- 
gressive stages  of  thought  which  were  evidenced 
in  the  history  of  the  world,  and  sometimes  of  indi- 
viduals, namely,  the  stages  of  belief,  doubt,  and 
faith,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  is  specially 
true  of  the  cycles  of  thought  that  may  be  observed 
in  successive  periods  of  long  duration.  It  were 
absurd  to  suppose  that  every  individual  man  or 
woman  is  to  illustrate  in  personal  history  the  vacilla- 
tions of  the  centuries.  Neither  is  doubt  the  indis- 
pensable prelude  to  belief,  any  more  than  it  is 
invariably  succeeded  by  belief.  There  are  minds 
naturally  constituted  to  believe,  as  there  are  minds 
naturally  constituted  to  doubt.  I  question,  how- 
ever, whether  any  safe  position  of  assured  faith 
is  attained  without  renouncing  something  we  have 
already  held.  As  Bishop  Hall  says,  he  that  never 
changed  any  of  his  opinions  never  corrected  any  of 
his  mistakes.     The  mature   conviction  of  the  whole 


14  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

man,  which  is  what  Christianity  contemplates  and 
demands,  and  with  nothing  short  of  which  it  can  be 
satisfied,  must  differ  materially  and  intrinsically  from 
the  unquestioning,  unthinking,  and  unconscious  faith 
of  childhood.  If  the  subject-matter  of  beHef  does 
not  change,  there  must  at  any  rate  be  a  change  in 
the  manner  of  believing  it  There  must,  therefore, 
be  transition  of  some  kind,  showing  itself  in  some 
way.  This  transition  may  or  may  not  assume  the 
form  of  doubt.  In  the  present  day  it  unquestion- 
ably often  assumes  this  form  ;  and  I  believe  that  a 
state  of  doubt  is  always  a  transition  state,  and  that 
it  will  be  seen  to  be  so  as  the  history  of  our  time 
develops  itself.  And  it  is  a  transition  state  of  this 
or  a  similar  kind  that  is  implied  in  the  gospel  idea 
of  conversion.  Our  Lord  told  His  own  immediate 
followers  that  they  must  be  converted.  If  in  their 
case  such  conversion  was  needful,  it  is  impossible  to 
conceive  of  the  case  in  which  it  would  not  be  need- 
ful ;  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  we  say  that  the  heathen 
world  in  becoming  Christian  was  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity. Can  we,  however,  say  with  equal  truth  that 
those  brought  up  and  instructed  in  the  Christian 
faith,  require  to  be  converted  to  Christianity  }  I 
think  we  may,  and  I  think  it  is  this  truth  which  it  is 
needful  to  bring  before  men's  minds  in  the  present 
day.  The  relation  of  the  Christian  faith  to  the  human 
soul  is  in  no  way  altered  because  the  world  has  nomin- 
ally become  Christian.  That  faith  must  still  convert 
men  to  itself,  or  rather  must  convert  them  to  Christ. 


IiV   GOD.  15 


I  believe  it  is  impossible  to  make  men  Christians  by 
simply  instructing  them  in  the  facts  and  truths  of 
Christianity.  Such  a  course  will  not  communicate 
to  them  the  spiritual  quickening  without  which  they 
cannot  become  Christians.  And  this  spiritual  quick- 
ening alone,  and  by  itself,  will  suffice  to  change  all 
their  previous  conceptions  concerning  Christ,  and 
will  show  them  that  whether  they  believed  or 
whether  they  doubted,  they  had  not  attained  to 
what  the  Scripture  calls  faith. 

But  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God. 
Ponder  these  words,  and  then  ask  yourselves 
whether  the  mere  childish  assent  to  the  articles 
of  the  Apostles'  Creed  makes  it  more  possible  for 
you,  or  can  make  it  more  possible  for  you,  to 
please  God  ;  and  I  think  the  answer  must  be.  No. 
If,  then,  we  are  to  consider  our  relation  to  the 
articles  of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  or  their  relation  to 
us,  we  must  first  endeavour  to  understand  what  we 
mean  by  faith.  "  I  believe  in  God  the  Father 
Almighty,"  if  it  means  anything,  certainly  if  it 
means  what  the  text  seems  to  say  it  ought  to  mean, 
must  mean  more  than,  "  I  have  certain  notions  about 
God,  more  or  less  indefinite;  certain  opinions  about 
Him,  which  I  am  able  to  express  more  or  less  philo- 
sophically and  logically."  God  cannot  concern  Him- 
self with  what  such  poor  creatures  as  we  are  think 
about  Him,  or  are  able  to  syllogise  about  Him. 
This  is  not  to  have  faith  in  God.  And  strange  to 
say,  from  first  to  last  the  Bible  gives  us  little  or  no 


ifrrsriVEESITY 


i6  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

material  for  such  exercise.  It  gives  us  no  philo- 
sophical definition  of  God.  It  tells  us,  indeed,  that 
God  is  a  spirit,  and  that  God  is  love,  if  you  choose 
to  regard  these  as  definitions  ;  but  these,  I  fancy,  do 
not  help  us  much,  and  these  even  are  among  the  very 
latest  declarations  that  are  recorded.  But  the  Bible 
assumes  everywhere  that  we  know  and  understand 
who  and  what  God  is,  and  yet  it  nowhere  endorses 
any  one's  thoughts  about  Him,  knowing  that  every- 
one's must  be  inadequate  and  vain.  Thus  we  all  pro- 
bably have  a  different  idea  of  God, — certainly  should 
express  it  differently,  and  yet  it  speaks  as  though 
we  all  had  the  same  idea,  or  at  least  had  a  common 
idea  ;  and  so  no  doubt  we  have.  If  it  were  not  so  we 
should  not  have  the  witness  that  there  is  in  human 
language ;  but  the  very  fact  that  God  is  an  idea  which 
finds  an  equivalent  expression  in  every  human  tongue, 
is  a  conclusive  proof  that  the  idea,  whatever  it  is,  is  a 
primary  idea,  common  to  the  human  race,  inherent  in 
and  indigenous  to  the  human  mind.  When,  there- 
fore, the  Bible  speaks  of  God  it  speaks  of  that  to 
which  there  is  a  witness  in  your  heart  and  con- 
science that  you  cannot  deny  ;  you  may  strive  to 
analyse  it  and  debate  it  with  yourself,  but  you  can 
do  little  or  nothing  with  it.  You  can  get  no  further, 
and  you  cannot  get  rid  of  it.  And  yet  the  Apostle 
says,  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God, — ■ 
without  telling  us  who  or  what  this  God  is  whom 
without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please,  or  what  this 
faith  is  without  which  it  is  impossible  to  please  Him  ; 


IN  GOD.  17 


for  I  apprehend  that  the  definition  in  the  first  verse, 
that  faith  is  the  substance  of  tilings  hoped  for,  the  evi- 
dence of  things  not  seen,  does  not  help  us  much. 

But  in  making  this  appeal  to  faith  the  Gospel 
shows  its  wonderful  adaptation  not  only  to  the  wants 
but  to  the  character  and  constitution  of  man.  It  is 
faith  upon  which  the  whole  intercourse  of  human  life 
and  human  society  is  built.  We  cannot  live  for  a 
single  day,  nor  act  for  a  single  hour,  without  exer- 
cising that  faculty  to  which  the  Gospel  appeals  when 
it  appeals  to  faith.  Where  would  commerce  be 
without  credit  }  Where  would  family  affection  be 
without  confidence  }  Where  would  love  be  without 
trust  }  Where  would  our  dealings  one  with  another 
be  without  reliance  on  one  another,  and  reliance  on 
the  unrealised  t  And,  further,  what  is  it  that  occa- 
sions so  much  disorder  in  human  affairs,  throwing 
out  all  our  calculations,  marring  all  our  schemes,  de- 
stroying our  happiness,  and  bringing  us  to  a  stand- 
still, but  the  want  of  faith,  the  abuse  of  trust,  the 
failure  of  credit,  the  breach  of  confidence  and  the 
like — the  absence,  namely,  of  that  very  faculty  or 
quality  the  necessity  of  which  the  actual  constitution 
of  our  nature  shows  } 

And  here  it  is  that  light  breaks  in.  Unless 
we  feel  and  act  towards  God,  whom  we  can  never 
fully  know,  but  whom  we  cannot  help  knowing 
of,  with  the  same  trust,  confidence,  faith,  reliance 
that  are  so  essential  in  our  dealings  with  our 
fellow-creatures,   we   cannot    please   Him.     Why,   a 

2 


1 8  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

moment's  consideration  will  show  us  plainly  that 
we  cannot.  How  is  it  possible  that  we  should 
please  Him  if  we  come  to  Him  without  that  which 
we  should  require  of  any  one  who  came  to  us,  and 
the  absence  of  which  would  be  fatal  to  any  inter- 
course between  us  ?  And  if  any  one  replies,  Oh 
yes,  but  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  God 
is  like  ourselves,  I  answer,  That  may  or  may  not  be 
so,  but  the  Bible  proceeds  on  the  assumption  that 
there  is  sufficient  analogy  between  our  relation  to 
one  another  and  our  relation  to  God,  for  the  expe- 
rience of  the  one  to  be  a  safe  guide  in  our  conduct  of 
the  other  ;  and  we  cannot  but  see  the  reasonableness 
of  this,  and  the  absolute  ignorance  in  which  we  are 
left  if  we  reject  such  an  analogy.  For  if  it  is  not 
faith  which  is  requisite  for  pleasing  God,  is  it  unbe- 
lief which  is  requisite  for  pleasing  Him,  or  what  is  it 
which  is  requisite  }  We  cannot  tell.  We  can  merely 
see,  then,  that  without  faith  it  must  be  impossible  to 
please  God. 

Now  the  Apostle  gives  us  two  reasons  which 
will  serve  to  show  yet  further  the  nature  of  the 
faith  which  he  declares  to  be  so  essential.  He  that 
co7neth  to  God  7mist  believe  that  He  isy  and  thai  He 
is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  Him.  The 
accurate  language  in  which  he  spoke  made  this  even 
more  precise,  for  there  is  a  difference  between  the 
He  is  and  the  He  is  a  rewarder.  It  is  this  :  He  that 
cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  He  is  ;  that  is  to 
say,  that  He  exists, — must  believe  in  His  existence; 


IN  GOD.  19 


which  I  should  imagine  is  self-evident.  How  can  a 
man  come  to  God  if  he  does  not  believe  in  His 
existence,  or  if  he  doubts  or  is  not  sure  of  His  exist- 
ence ?  The  revelation  of  the  Word  enters  at  a  point 
further  advanced  than  that  at  which  the  prelimi- 
nary question  of  God's  existence  is  even  possible  ;  it 
accepts  and  assumes  it.  How  can  we  predicate 
anything  about  God  if  He  is  non-existent  ? 

But,  further,  the  faith  of  which  the  writer  speaks 
requires  a  man  to  believe  that  to  those  coming  to 
Him  by  faith  He  becomes  a  rewarder  if  they  seek 
Him  such  a  way  as  to  seek  Him  out,  and  so  to  find 
Him.  And  here  is  where  the  Gospel  comes  into  colli- 
sion with  our  modern  philosophy.  This  latter  will 
leave  us  our  God  as  a  bare  existence,  because  there 
is  considerable  difficulty,  philosophical  and  otherwise, 
in  denying  that ;  but  it  takes  from  us  the  conditional 
character  of  God,  in  which  He  becomes  something  to 
those  with  faith  which  without  faith  He  is  not.  And 
here  is  the  first  point  at  which  the  Christian  faith 
conflicts  with  reason,  and  is  assailed  by  reason.  We 
may  as  well  confess  it  at  once,  and  decide  what  we 
will  do,  for  if  we  are  staggered  here  at  the  very  out- 
set I  do  not  see  how  we  are  to  become  Christians.  Phi- 
losophy has  sundry  theories  about  nature  being  God 
— becoming,  that  is,  God — in  transition,  and  the  like. 
If,  therefore,  philosophy  can  adopt  such  language  for 
her  own  purposes,  I  do  not  see  why  philosophy  should 
in  the  abstract  object  to  the  Apostle  using  such  a 
phrase.     At  any  rate,  this   is  what  he   says,  and  in 


20  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

saying  it  he  gives  a  definite  truth  for  faith  to  believe. 
I  come  to  God  believing  that  He  is.  Do  I  come  to 
Him  believing  any  more  than  this,  believing  that  if 
I  seek  Him  out — that  is,  so  as  to  find  Him — He 
will  become  to  me  a  rewarder  ;  that  He  will  stand 
to  me  in  a  different  relation  from  that  in  which  He 
would  stand  to  me  if  I  did  not  come  to  Him,  or  did 
not  seek  Him  out  so  as  to  find  Him  ;  that  He  will 
become,  and  therefore  be  to  me,  what  He  does  not 
become,  and  therefore  is  not,  to  others  who  do  not 
seek  Him  ?  That  is  the  question.  Holding  this 
faith)  I  can  please  Him.  Holding  it  not,  I  cannot 
please  Him.  If  I  intend  my  profession  /  believe  to 
be  of  any  value,  I  must  believe  this.  I  must  believe 
that  upon  faith,  upon  trust  in  God,  I  enter  into  a 
new  world  :  I  set  my  foot  upon  another  sphere  :  I 
look  up  to  another  sky :  I  behold  another  land- 
scape. That  is  the  very  reward.  If  God  is  not  a 
rewarder,  then  He  is  to  me  nothing.  My  position  is 
unaltered.  Faith  does  nothing  for  me  ;  it  leaves  me 
as  it  finds  me.  God  is  an  abstraction,  the  contem- 
plation of  which  can  do  neither  good  nor  harm  ; 
certainly  not  good. 

Now  this  is  the  kind  of  faith  with  which  the 
world  is  very  well  satisfied  ;  with  which  it  is 
perfectly  willing  to  make  a  compromise,  whether 
in  the  way  of  ritual,  or  external  acts  of  devotion, 
or  sacrifice  of  substance,  or  anything  else,  be- 
cause it  is  a  faith  which  leaves  us  as  it  finds  us, 
essentially    unchanged,     unrestored,    secretly    unin- 


IN  GOD. 


fluenced  and  unconverted.  The  shell  of  childish 
indifferent,  unconscious  faith  has  not  been  pene- 
trated and  broken  by  the  germinant  and  vivifying 
seed  within  ;  whereas,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  im- 
possible to  believe  that  God  becomes  to  us  who  seek 
Him  out  a  rewarder,  that  is,  one  who  modifies  His 
conduct  towards  us,  and  acts  towards  us  in  a  special 
manner,  as  a  living  and  acting  God,  as  a  person 
dealing  with  us,  controlling,  guiding,  moulding,  influ- 
encing and  blessing  us,  without  being  ourselves 
changed  and  influenced  thereby.  Such  being  the 
revealed  character  of  God,  we  surrender  and  submit 
ourselves  to  Him  by  going  to  Him  with  that  belief. 
We  put  ourselves  in  a  position  to  receive  of  His 
influence,  to  be  moulded  by  His  spirit,  and  are 
moulded  and  influenced  accordingly.  For  this  is 
what  is  implied  by  God's  being  a  rewarder  ;  it  mat- 
ters not  what  the  reward  is, — in  Abraham's  case  it  was 
sheep  and  oxen,  in  David's  it  was  victory  in  battle, 
in  Elijah's  it  was  national  reform,  in  Paul's  it  was 
the  conversion  ol  many  lands  to  the  name  of  Christ. 
The  reward  is  varied  and  various  ;  the  principle  of 
the  reward  is  one,  and  the  principle  involved  in  the 
reward  is  one  ;  it  is  that  of  God  acting  in  a  special 
way,  in  which  He  would  not  otherwise  act,  in  conse- 
quence of  or  on  condition  of  a  special  character  in 
those  who  come  to  Him.  There  is  no  thought  that 
men  repudiate  more  readily  than  that  of  God's 
action  being  conditional  on  man's  belief  or  on  man's 
action,  and  yet  what  else  do  the  words  imply,  He 


22  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

that  Cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  He  is,  and  that 
He  is  a  rewarder  of  them,  that  diligently  seek  Him  f 

It  is  possible,  then,  to  believe  this  in  a  childish 
way,  and  yet,  when  we  have  learnt  by  experience 
its  full  meaning,  to  believe  it  very  differently, 
and  yet  like  a  child.  There  must  be  a  transition 
between  the  two  conditions.  It  may  or  may  not  be 
one  of  doubt,  but  the  sequel  of  the  transition  is  none 
other  than  conversion.  We  are  taught  to  believe  in 
a  living  God  who  has  affixed  a  special  reward  to 
special  faith,  which,  in  fact,  is  life.  And  without 
such  a  faith  as  this  it  is  impossible  to  please  God, 
because  God  can  only  take  pleasure  in  what  partakes 
of  His  own  life  and  reflects  His  own  work.  He 
has  no  pleasure  in  anything  short  of  this.  He  has 
no  pleasure  in  the  legs  of  a  man,  in  his  physical 
powers,  or  acquired  skill,  or  mental  endowments,  or 
in  the  results  of  all  combined,  but  in  his  faith,  in  the 
way  in  which  he  comes  to  Him,  in  the  fulness  with 
which  he  trusts  Him,  the  readiness  with  which  he 
serves  Him,  the  willingness  with  which  he  accepts 
the  dispositions  and  decrees  of  His  providence  and 
grace.  Thus  coming  unto  Him  we  shall  have,  as 
Enoch  had,  this  testimony ^  that  we  please  God, 


23 


III. 

THE  FATHER. 

To  us  there  is  but  one  God,  the  Father,  of  whom  are  all  things,  and 
we  in  Him. — i  CoR.  viii.  6. 

CHRISTIANITY,  when  it  came  upon  earth, 
came  not  only  as  a  positive  but  as  a  protes- 
tant  religion.  It  was  not  only  to  an  eminent 
degree  constructive  in  its  form,  but  also  terribly  de- 
structive in  its  operation.  It  presented  certain  facts 
for  man's  acceptance,  but  waged  likewise  fatal  war 
with  the  Pantheon  of  heathenism.  Here  we  have 
an  instance  of  this.  For  though  there  be  that  are 
called  gods,  whether  in  heaven  or  in  earthy  (as  there 
be  gods  many,  and  lords  many^  yet  to  us,  says  the 
writer,  there  is  but  one  God,  the  Father,  of  zvhom 
are  all  things,  and  we  in  Him.  The  Gospel  had 
come  with  destructive  power  against  these  gods 
many,  and  lords  many,  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  If 
there  was  one  only,  there  could  not  be  many ;  the 
many  must  give  place  to  the  one. 

It  is  to  be  observed  also  that  the  gods  and  the 
lords  appear  to  be  the  same.  Those  who  were  gods 
were  also  lords,  and  those  who  were  lords  were  also 
gods.     This  is  important  when  we  come  to  the  one 


24  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

God  and  the  one  Lord  who  are  immediately  after- 
wards proclaimed. 

The  Christian  faith,  therefore,  believes  in  and 
declares  one  only  God.  "  I  believe  in  God  the 
Father  Almighty ; "  or,  as  the  Nicene  confession 
has  it,  "  I  believe  in  07te  God,  the  Father  Almighty." 
This  is  the  corner-stone  of  revelation  as  to  the  being 
of  God.  We  must  hold  fast  by  the  unity  of  God,  or 
else  we  relapse  again  into  the  exploded  errors  of 
polytheism  which  Christianity  denounced  and  did 
away  with.  Thus  there  is  but  one  God.  The 
Christian  creed  acknowledges  one  supreme  object 
of  worship,  and  only  one.  In  this,  indeed,  it  is  not 
singular,  for  even  polytheistic  religions  held  that 
there  was  one  god  supreme  over  all  the  others  ;  but 
the  inferior  powers  and  essences  were  exalted  into 
gods.  Now  that  we  have  learnt  to  study  God 
through  His  revelation  of  nature,  we  find  that  all 
things  point  conclusively  to  the  unity  of  God. 
There  is  but  one  will  expressed  and  executed,  from 
one  end  of  the  universe  to  the  other.  There  is  no 
trace  of  any  opposite  or  conflicting  power  to  divide 
with  the  one  God  the  dominion  of  the  universe. 
The  Christian  belief,  therefore,  so  far,  is  in  harmony 
with,  and  is  confirmed  by,  the  teachings  of  nature 
and  the  conclusions  of  reason. 

And  there  is  ground  for  much  joy  and  comfort  and 
consolation  in  this  thought  of  the  absolute  unity  of 
God.  For  if  we  have  found  out  God,  then  have  we 
reached  the  goal  of  all  thought,  and  of  all  worship, 


THE  FATHER.  25 


and  of  all  existence.  We  can  get  no  further.  The 
object  that  we  have  apprehended  is  indeed  in  itself 
infinite,  but  it  is  also  one.  There  is  none  higher, 
none  holier,  none  mightier.  It  is  one  and  it  is  all. 
And  thus  being  one,  and  being  all,  in  relation  to 
God  time  and  space  are  altogether  eliminated  and 
taken  out  of  the  way.  Thus  the  God  who  is  near 
us  in  London  is  near  us  also  in  China,  and  in  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  and  is  near  our  friends,  • 
if  we  have  them,  there  ;  and  thus  God  is  a  meeting- 
point  between  us  and  our  friends  who  may  be 
separated  by  vast  tracts  of  space  or  by  long  dis- 
tance of  time.  There  is  but  One  between  us  and 
them,  and  He  is  the  same  to  us  as  He  is  to  them, 
and  the  same  to  them  as  He  is  to  us. 

If  the  doctrine,  therefore,  of  one  God  were  a 
theory  and  nothing  more,  it  would  not  be  without  a 
certain  amount  of  attractiveness  and  moral  influence, 
such  as  many  opinions,  which  are  opinions  only, 
oftentimes  possess  ;  but  knowing,  as  we  do,  that  it  is 
a  fact,  and  a  fact  of  which  we  are  assured  by  revela- 
tion, and  which  is  confirmed  to  us  by  science  and  by 
reason,  it  cannot  fail  to  be  to  us  a  source  of  strength. 
It  is  the  ONE  before  whom  we  now  stand  who  deals 
with  us,  and  with  whom  we  now  deal;  before  whom 
the  patriarchs,  prophets,  and  apostles  stood  in  the 
centuries  that  are  past ;  with  whom  Christ  our  Lord 
in  His  manhood  had  to  deal,  and  Who  dealt  with 
Him.  No  wonder  that  the  unity  of  God  was  found, 
in  the   seventh   century,   to   be  the   mighty   engine 


26  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

which  Mohammedanism  proved  it,  at  a  time  when 
idolatry  gross  and  multiform  had  usurped  upon  the 
life  of  the  Christian  Church,  because  it  is  a  living 
truth,  instinct  with  the  life  of  Him  whose  truth  it  is, 
and  whose  nature  it  proclaims  ;  and  whenever  it  is 
apprehended  in  its  truth  it  will  come  with  power  to 
the  soul  that  grasps  it.  To  us  there  is  but  one  God. 
But  if  this  truth  is  mighty,  how  much  more  is  the 
next,  which  is  one  of  the  cardinal  truths  of  the 
Gospel,  and,  in  some  sense,  its  special  and  peculiar 
revelation.  The  one  God  is  also  named  the  Father. 
Our  modern  phraseology  is  very  fond  of  speaking  of 
God  as  a  Father,  and  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  from 
the  days  of  Edward  Irving  downwards,  has  been  a 
very  popular  doctrine,  and  one  calculated  to  awaken 
a  hearty  popular  response.  But  I  rather  think  that 
to  speak  of  God  as  a  Father,  in  the  abstract,  is  some- 
thing more,  and  at  the  same  time  something  less, 
than  is  warranted  by  the  teaching  of  the  Gospel. 
As  was  shown  in  the  last  lecture,  the  Gospel  reveals 
God  as  the  conditioned  and  not  as  the  unconditioned ; 
it  reveals  God  as  He  becomes  to  us  upon  accepting 
His  offer.  The  Gospel  speaks  of  God  as  07tr  Father, 
as  yoiLV  Father,  as  the  Father,  but  never  simply  as 
a  father.  That  is  to  say,  it  pledges  itself  to  no 
philosophical  or  merely  abstract  affirmation  about 
the  Fatherhood  of  God,  or  His  independent  cha- 
racter as  a  father,  but  simply  assumes  the  relation 
in  which  He  is  willing  to  stand  to  us  upon  our  com- 
ing to  Him  as  He  invites  us.     The  language  of  the 


THE  FATHER. 


27 


Gospel  is  not,  "  I  am  a  father,  have  a  father's  heart," 
and  the  like,  however  true  in  themselves  these  state- 
ments may  be,  but,  /  will  be  a  Father  unto  you  ; 
which  necessarily  implies  a  condition  to  be  fulfilled. 
And  thus  God  is  to  us  the  Father  whom  He  has 
proclaimed  Himself. 

But  when  we  come  to  enquire  how  this  is,  we 
find  that  the  earliest  historical  announcement  of  this 
truth  was  always,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  connected 
with  the  preaching  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The 
original  Gospel  was  not  the  Gospel  of  the  Father- 
hood of  God,  but  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Son 
of  God,  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In 
treating,  therefore,  of  this  subject,  it  is  difficult  not 
to  anticipate  what  must  naturally,  in  the  order  of 
things,  come  later.  God  is  the  Father,  because  He 
is  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  because 
in  Him,  but  only  in  Him,  He  is  our  Father.  It 
may  seem  hard  even  to  attempt  to  assign  any 
limitation,  or  to  appear  to  do  so,  to  a  truth  so 
popular  and  so  grateful  as  the  Fatherhood  of  God  ; 
but  I  conceive  by  the  whole  tenor  of  the  Gospel 
(which,  pray  remember,  you  can  examine  for  your- 
selves, and  so  determine  whether  I  am  right  or 
wrong)  we  are  bound  to  do.  Human  language  is 
inevitably  deceptive  and  necessarily  ambiguous. 
When  men  speak  in  a  popular  way  of  the  Father- 
hood of  God,  they  not  only  state  more,  but  they 
mean  less,  than  the  Gospel  states  or  means.  That 
God  is  a  Father  is  a  primary  truth,  not  of  revela- 


'28  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

tion,  but  of  instinct  or  of  reason,  however  little 
reason  or  instinct  may  have  been  able  unaided  to 
discover  it.  In  this  sense,  not  only  Christianity  but 
also  Judaism,  not  only  Judaism  but  also  heathenism, 
has  conceived  of  God  ;  and  Father  Zeus  and  Father 
Jove  are  terms  familiar  to  us  even  in  the  heathen 
classics,  as  are  likewise  their  equivalents  in  the 
Indian  epic  and  dramatic  poetry.  And  certainly 
the  great  Creator  who  has  called  into  existence 
millions  of  immortal  beings  who  hold  an  exalted 
and  a  supreme  position  in  the  scale  of  His  creation, 
cannot  be  regarded  otherwise  than  as  their  Father. 
His  very  creation  has  confirmed  to  Him  that  right, 
and  established  to  them  their  claim  to  regard  them- 
selves as  His  children ;  but  if  the  Gospel  appellation 
"  Father  "  has  no  deeper  or  further  significance  than 
this,  then  verily  that  Gospel  cannot  be  a  revelation. 
We  are  no  further  than  we  were,  after  the  life  and 
labours,  the  death  and  resurrection  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  the  preaching  and  martyrdom  of  apostles 
and  evangelists.  But  the  Gospel  teaches  us  plainly 
that  to  call  God  "  Father "  with  the  full  depth  and 
sweetness  of  the  name  is  the  result  of  the  Holy 
Spirit's  teaching,  and  consequently  is  neither  or- 
dinary nor  natural,  is  something  more  than  instinct, 
and  higher  than  reason  can  pretend  to  be. 

In  fact.  Scripture  has  itself  furnished  us  with  a 
standard  whereby  we  may  gauge  the  meaning  and 
reality  of  this  term  "  Father,"  as  it  is  applied  to  God. 
In  one  of  our  Lord's  conversations  with  the  Jews, 


THE  FATHER.  29 


we  find  them  asserting  emphatically,  We  have  one 
Father,  even  God,  Whereupon  our  Lord  rejoins, 
If  God  were  your  Father,  ye  woidd  love  me,  for  I 
proceeded  forth  and  came  from  God ;  neither  came 
I  of  myself  but  He  sent  me.  Now  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  the  Jews,  on  this  occasion,  appealed 
to  the  Fatherhood  of  God  very  much  in  the  popular 
sense,  and  something  more,  for  their  appeal  was 
special  and  not  merely  general ;  but  He  disallowed 
it  because  they  lacked  the  sure  and  infallible  test 
of  loving  the  Christ  whom  the  Father  had  sent ;  so 
that  there  can  be  no  true  sense  of  the  Fatherhood 
of  God  unless  it  is  coupled  with  a  personal  love 
for  Jesus  Christ.  Thus  we  are  brought  back  by  a 
different  path  to  identically  the  same  point  as 
before — that  God  is  only  in  the  higher  and  the 
only  worthy  sense  a  Father  according  as  He  is 
acknowledged  as  the  Father ;  if  He  is  the  Father 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  then  is  He  indeed  a  Father 
to  us  ;  if  He  is  acknowledged  as  the  Father,  then 
He  becomes  to  us,  in  deed  and  in  truth,  a  Father, 
and  that  is  our  reward. 

And  how  shall  we  attempt  to  express,  far  less 
exhaust,  the  meaning  of  that  word  "  Father "  ?  I 
question  if  any  one  who  is  not  himself  a  father  can 
understand  the  fulness  of  its  meaning.  Who  has 
not  felt  that  when  his  own  child  has  first  called 
him  father  he  has  had  opened  out  to  him  an  avenue 
to  the  hallowed  significance  of  that  name  which 
imagination  was    unable  to  depict    before  ?     There 


30  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

is  always  something  about  those  consecrated  rela- 
tionships of  life  which  experience  alone  can  give 
us.  There  is  no  one  who  is  ignorant  of  what 
fatherhood  implies.  We  all  know  what  it  is  to 
have  had  or  to  have  lost  a  father ;  but  those  only 
who  have  children  can  know  the  additional  elements 
of  sacred  love  which  are  associated  with  the  actual 
experience  of  fatherhood.  There  is  a  special  fatherly 
joy  which  the  father  alone,  and  not  the  son,  can  know, 
and  which  is  taught,  not  in  idea,  but  by  experience. 

But  with  reference  to  God  it  is  not  only  idea  but 
experience  also  that  fails  to  apprehend  the  full 
significance  of  the  name.  For  what  is  the  earthly 
relationship  of  father }  Is  it  anything  more  than  the 
reflex  of  the  heavenly  t  God  has  stamped  a  rela- 
tionship which  is  peculiarly  His  own,  inasmuch  as 
it  is  that  in  which  He  stands  to  His  eternal  Son, 
upon  the  very  constitution  of  human  society  ;  but  in 
so  doing  He  has  bestowed  a  copy  and  not  the  original, 
He  has  multiplied  the  stamp  and  not  the  die.  He  still 
remains,  and  must  to  all  eternity  remain,  the  Father, 
while  each  of  us  is  nothing  more  according  to  the 
disposition  of  His  providence  than  a  father.  We 
borrow  our  fatherhood  from  Him,  as  it  is  He  alone 
who  has  lent  us  the  application  of  the  title  "  Father." 

And  what,  then,  is  the  upshot  of  all  this }  Why, 
brethren,  that  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  and  that 
which  is  implied  thereby,  is  something  vastly  more 
than  even  the  most  blessed  experience  of  earthly 
fatherhodd  can  enable  us  to  apprehend.     If  we  who 


THE  FATHER. 


are  fathers  know  more  of  earthly  fatherhood  than 
those  who  are  not,  yet  even  we,  the  fondest  and 
the  tenderest  of  us,  cannot  rise  to  the  full  apprecia- 
tion of  that  which  His  fatherhood  involves.  He 
loves  us,  if  we  belong  to  Him,  as  we  who  are  fathers 
love  our  children,  only  with  a  love  of  which  that  is 
the  shadow  and  not  the  substance,  the  reflection 
and  not  the  image  reflected.  And  when  we  say,  as 
we  often  do,  so  thoughtlessly,  "I  believe  in  God  the 
Father,"  this  is  what  we  ought  to  mean,  if  indeed 
we  do  beheve  in  Him. 

But    this  very  fatherhood   is   itself  a   subject   of 
belief     We  cannot  prove  it.     We  can  only  believe 
it,  and  we   can   only  experience  it   by  believing  it. 
Observe   the   difference.     We   do   not  create   it   by 
believing    it,  for    then    we    should    be    the    victims 
merely  of  delusion  ;    it  reveals  itself  to  us,  it   has 
been  revealed  to  us  by  Christ,  it  is  revealed  to  us 
by  the  Spirit,  and  we  apprehend  it  by  believing  it. 
But  just  as  no  exhibition  of  human  love  can  pro- 
duce the   experience  of  that   love  if  it  is  met  with 
coldness  or  lukewarmness,  or  suspicion  and  distrust, 
so  is  it  also  with  the  Divine  love, — the  full  experience 
of  it  is  obviously  and  of  necessity  dependent  upon 
faith;  it  cannot   be  otherwise,  as   faith   worketh  by 
love,  and  love  is  apprehended  by  faith,  and  cannot 
be  apprehended  without  faith.      If  we  do  not  believe 
that   God  loves  us  as  a  father,  it  is  impossible  that 
we  can  feel  towards   Him  and  love  Him  as  children, 
and  it  is  equally  manifest  that  if  He  really  does  love 
us  as  a   father,   the   practical  evidence  of  that  love 


32  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

US  as  a  father,  the  practical  evidence  of  that  love 
must  be  sought  in  the  reality  of  the  love  with  which 
we  requite  it.  To  as  there  is  but  one  God  the 
Father;  therefore,  must  we  express,  not  the  bare  con- 
fession of  an  intellectual  creed,  but  the  heartfelt 
acknowledgment  of  a  spiritual  fact  of  which  we  have 
become  experimentally  conscious.  This  is  further 
implied  by  the  peculiar  idiom  which  is  commonly 
used  in  the  New  Testament,  and  is  adopted  by 
the  language  of  the  Creeds, — "I  believe  into  God 
the  Father  Almighty."  The  faith  is  not  sbmething 
which  we  can  regard  as  apart  from  ourselves,  in 
which  we  have  no  vivid  or  vital  interest;  not  some- 
thing which  we  can  talk  about  with  indifference,  as 
though  it  did  not  concern  us ;  it  is  a  belief  by  which 
we  so  to  say  project  and  cast  ourselves  on  and  lose 
ourselves  in  God.  We  find  that  the  one  God  is  He 
in  whom  we  are,  in  whom  we  live  and  move  and 
have  our  being  ;  that,  in  the  language  of  St.  Paul,  it 
is  not  only  He,  their  Creator,  from  whom  are  all 
things  as  their  origin  and  source,  but  also  that  we 
are  not  in  but  into  Him.  It  may  be  fanciful,  but  it 
seems  to  me  that  there  is  something  more  implied 
here  than  that  we  are,  as  Alford  has  it,  for  him, — 
that  is,  His  purposes,  to  serve  His  will;  which  is  an 
obvious  truth,  if  not  a  truism ;  as  though  the  writer 
meant  that  the  Father  was  indeed  the  source  of  all 
things,  ourselves  among  them,  but  that  we,  moreover, 
in  virtue  of  His  paternal  revelation  and  His  fatherly 
love  had  been  brought  back  again  to  Him,  that  we 
had  returned  like  the  rivers  to  the  ocean  from  which 


THE  FATHER.  33 


they  had  been  drawn  by  exhalation,  that  the  very 
object  of  all  God's  dealing  with  us,  whether  in  provi- 
dence or  in  grace,  was  that  we  might  return  to  and 
be  lost  in  Him.  This,  at  least,  is  the  full  force  of 
the  Apostle's  language,  whether  or  not  we  have  ex- 
pressed his  thought. 

What,  then,  is  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter.? 
That  there  is  one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is 
above  all  and  through  all  and  in  us  all  ;  that  our 
relation  to  Him  is  not  affected  by  time  or  space, — 
He  is  ever  near  to  us  and  always  with  us, — but  by 
the  moral  condition  of  the  inner  man.  What  is  the 
index  of  the  relation  of  the  human  parent  to  the 
child }  is  it  not,  in  one  word,  the  affections }  When 
they  are  unmoved,  or  cold  and  torpid,  is  not  the 
first  principle  of  nature  violated,  her  holiest  law 
broken.?  It  is  so  likewise  with  our  relation  to  our 
Heavenly  Father;  there  can  be,  if  I  may  so  say, 
no  blood  relationship  between  us,  no  vital  bond  of 
living  union,  unless  our  affections  are  kindled 
towards  Him.  We  may  boast  of  the  Fatherhood 
of  God,  of  the  proclamation  of  that  truth  being  the 
glory  of  our  age,  and  the  like,  but  unless  we  love 
Him,  and  the  yearnings  of  our  heart  go  forth  to 
Him,  we  know  Him  not;  for  we  love  Him  because 
He  first  loved  us}  is  St.  John's  assurance,  and  if  we 
love  Him  not,  we  have  no  witness  in  ourselves  that 
the  love  of  the  Father  hath  gone  forth  to  us  and 
embraced  us  as  His  children. 

'  I  John  iv.  19. 

3 


IV. 

ALMIGHTY. 

And  when  Abram  was  ninety  years  old  and  nine,  the  Lord  appeared 
to  Abram,  and  said  unto  him,  I  am  the  Almighty  God  ;  walk  before  me, 
and  be  thou  perfect. — Gen.  xvii.  i. 

THIS  is  the  first  time  that  the  epithet  Almighty 
appears  in  Scripture,  and  you  will  observe 
that  it  appears  as  a  distinct  revelation  communicated 
by  God  Himself.  It  would  be  interesting  to  enquire 
whether  the  term  was  new,  were  it  not  clearly  im- 
possible to  decide  the  question  absolutely.  Probably, 
however,  most  persons  nowadays  will  be  disposed 
to  believe  that  it  was  not  new ;  that  it  sprang  up 
naturally  in  the  course  of  linguistic  formation,  and 
was  adopted  by  God  on  this  occasion.  The  passage 
in  Exodus,  /  appeared  unto  Abraham,  unto  Isaac, 
and  unto  Jacob  by  the  name  of  God  Almighty,  but 
by  my  name  JeJwvah  was  I  not  known  to  them,^  may 
seem  perhaps  to  militate  against  such  a  notion  ;  but 
whether  it  does  or  not,  the  statement  of  Genesis 
is  that  the  Lord  appeared  to  Abram  and  declared 
Himself  as  God  Almighty.  That  was  the  revela- 
tion, the  personal  manifestation,  and  not  merely  the 

*  Exod.  vi.  3. 


36  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

invention  or  the  adoption  of  the  name.  Let  us  try- 
to  remember  that  we  know  nothing  of  God  Almighty 
unless  we  know  Him  ;  and  this  was  the  knowledge, 
or  at  least  a  step  in  it,  which  was  now  revealed  to 
Abraham. 

And  it  is  interesting  to  observe  the  scriptural 
history  of  this  word.  It  is  found  about  half-a-dozen 
times  in  Genesis,  once  in  Exodus  as  above,  twice  in 
Numbers,  but  not  elsewhere  in  the  Pentateuch.  It 
is  also  found  twice  in  Ruth,  in  the  Psalms,  and 
in  Ezekiel,  and  once  in  Isaiah,  and  Joel,  but 
more  than  thirty  times  in  the  book  of  Job.  This 
is  its  use  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  we  may 
perhaps  gather  that  it  is  one  of  the  oldest  and 
simplest  appellations  attributed  to  God  by  the 
Semitic  nations.  When  we  turn  to  the  New 
Testament  we  find  it  once  used  by  St.  Paul  in 
his  second  epistle  to  Corinth,  and  eight  times  in 
the  Revelation  of  St.  John  ;  but  nowhere  else.  Thus, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Book  of  Job,  it  is  more 
common  in  the  first  and  last  books  of  the  Bible 
than  it  is  in  any  other.  It  is  clear,  then,  that  as 
in  Genesis  we  find  the  Lord  adopting  this  name, 
so  in  Revelation  we  find  it  still  acknowledged  and 
authorised  as  a  Divine  appellation.  Among  our- 
selves its  usage  is  somewhat  similar ;  it  is  an 
epithet  pertaining  to  and  characterising  natural 
rather  than  revealed  religion.  When  we  speak  of 
the  Almighty  we  allude,  I  fancy,  to  the  Divine 
Being  in  a  somewhat  distant  and  objective  manner ; 


ALMIGHTY,  37 


not  as  in  immediate  relation  to  ourselves,  though 
on  the  other  hand  "Almighty  and  Everlasting  God" 
is  one  of  the  most  familiar  and  appropriate  forms  for 
the  commencement  of  our  prayers.  And  so  I  appre- 
hend that  Job,  living,  as  he  did,  beyond  the  pale  of 
direct  revelation,  although  afterwards  the  subject  of 
revelation,  very  commonly  spoke  of  the  Almighty 
as  of  a  person  known  chiefly  in  the  way  of  natural 
rather  than  of  revealed  religion  ;  while  the  patri- 
archs were  clearly  more  familiar  with  this  ancient 
name  than  they  were  with  Jehovah,  the  special  name 
of  revelation,  though  it  was,  as  we  have  seen,  a 
name  readily  adopted  and  sanctioned  by  God  in  His 
earliest,  as  subsequently  in  His  latest,  manifestations. 

The  apparent  meaning  of  the  name  also,  as  we 
find  it  in  the  Old  Testament,  seems  to  differ  slightly 
from  its  equivalent  in  the  New  ;  the  one  answering 
perhaps  more  nearly  to  our  own  term — Almighty — 
and  suggesting  the  highest  degree  of  power,  and  the 
other  suggesting  that  rather  of  dominion. 

So  much,  then,  for  the  history  and  the  signifi- 
cation of  the  name.  What,  then,  does  it  tell  us 
about  God,  and  how  does  it  affect  our  relation  to 
Him }  "  I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty " 
is  one  of  the  earliest  announcements  that  we  receive 
of  God.  Let  us  dwell  upon  it  in  the  natural  course 
of  our  subject  at  the  present  time,  and  take  for  our 
guide  in  doing  so  the  words  in  which  the  Lord  Him- 
self first  adopted  the  application  of  the  name. 

In  continuation,  then,  of  what  was  said  in  the  last 


38  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

lecture,  if  there  is  but  one  God  and  one  supreme 
will,  it  is  obvious  that  He  must  be  almighty,  other- 
wise He  could  not  be  one,  or  could  not  be  supreme. 
Thus  far,  then,  the  declarations  of  the  Creed  are 
simply  moving  along  a  parallel  line  with  those  of 
instinctive  and  unrevealed  religion,  if  indeed  the 
lines  be  not  identical.  "The  Almighty"  is  a  name 
which  spontaneously  rises  to  our  lips  when  we  desire 
to  express  our  innate  conceptions  of  the  Divine 
Being,  so  far  as  they  refer  to  His  power.  The 
conception  of  a  being  who  holds  in  his  hand  un- 
limited resources,  who  has  absolute  control  of  the 
affairs  of  men,  and  is  Lord  of  all  the  powers  of 
nature,  is  surely  one  that  may  be  regarded  as 
indigenous  to  the  soil  of  the  human  mind.  It  is 
difficult  to  eradicate  such  a  conception  from  the 
heart.  Our  own  weakness  and  subjection  to  a 
variety  of  tyrannous  and  oppressive  forces  over 
which  we  have  no  control,  and  against  which  it  is 
useless  to  contend,  serves  of  itself  to  suggest  to  us 
the  existence  of  a  being  whom,  inasmuch  as  he  is 
mightier  than  all,  we  term  "  All-mighty."  Human 
language  is  itself  a  witness  to  the  naturalness,  not 
to  say  the  inevitable  rise,  of  such  a  thought. 

And  it  is  a  very  grand  thought,  for  it  implies 
that  the  Divine  Being  is  on  the  one  hand  perfectly 
free,  and  on  the  other  is  absolutely  independent  of, 
and  disengaged  from.  His  works.  It  is  a  natural 
protest,  therefore,  against  the  old  Greek  notion  of 
the  Deity  Himself  being   bound  by  fate  ;  of  there 


ALMIGHTY. 


39 


being  some  impersonal  power  mightier  than  the 
power  of  the  Most  High,  some  irrevocable  decree 
of  which  He  was  not  the  author  but  the  slave ; 
and  it  is  a  protest  also  against  that  other  idea, 
with  which  perhaps  this  is  cognate,  or  to  which 
it  ultimately  leads,  that  God  is  but  another  name 
for  nature  ;  that  He  is  but  the  spirit  of  His  works  ; 
that,  in  fact.  His  works  are  He.  Those  forms,  then,  of 
natural  religion,  which  admit  of  our  using  the  term 
"  Almighty"  and  its  equivalents,  are  opposed  on  the 
one  hand  to  the  doctrine  of  necessity,  and  on  the 
other  to  that  of  God's  being  but  the  expression 
of  His  works,  or  at  the  best  a  sort  of  anima  mundi. 
So  far,  therefore,  as  natural  religion  is  what  we 
may  term  orthodox,  it  goes  along  with  the  confession 
of  the  Creed.  But  if,  on  the  contrary,  natural  religion 
approximates  to  an  atheistic  or  a  pantheistic  belief, 
the  Christian  Creed  is  most  distinctly  opposed  to  it, 
and  so  also  are  the  declarations  of  Scripture,  of  which 
the  Christian  Creed  is  professedly  but  the  expression. 
You  will  observe,  therefore,  that  when  the  Lord 
appeared  to  Abram,  as  we  are  told  in  the  text  He 
did,  and  adopted,  if  He  did  not  communicate,  the 
word  "almighty,"  He  took  no  pains  to  refute  either 
of  the  philosophical  conceptions  just  alluded  to, 
but  assumed  altogether  their  falsehood,  and  made 
a  direct  and  positive  enunciation  of  the  truth, — "  I 
am  the  Almighty  God;"  "I  am  God  Almighty." 
The  simple  and  unsophisticated  mind  of  Abram  had 
very  possibly  never  been  crossed  with  these  double 


40  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

alternative  philosophical  conceptions ;  but  whether 
it  had  or  not — for  we  cannot  affirm  that  it  had 
not — the  Lord  concerned  Himself  only  with  the 
declaration  of  the  truth  ;  and  the  other  questions, 
as  far  as  Abram  was  concerned,  were  for  ever 
settled  and  disposed  of 

And  so  they  will  be  as  far  as  we  are  concerned, 
if  we  are  content  to  accept  the  revelation  to  Abram 
as  a  true  revelation,  and  are  willing  to  acknowledge 
that  it  marked  a  distinct  and  definite  stage  of 
advancement  in  man's  knowledge  of  God.  And  I 
confess  that  I  do  not  myself  see  how  the  abstract 
questions  and  claims  of  theism,  atheism,  and  pan- 
theism are  to  be  finally  set  at  rest  on  merely 
philosophical  grounds  if  we  do  not  admit  the 
element  of  revelation  to  give  the  verdict  of  autho- 
rity. The  doctrine  of  necessity  is  one  which  has 
exercised  its  sway  over  many  master-minds,  and 
that  is  akin,  if  it  is  not  equivalent,  to  atheism.  The 
doctrine  that  nature  and  God  are  convertible  terms, 
is*  one  that  is  greatly  in  vogue  at  the  present  day, 
and  numbers  among  its  adherents  minds  of  the 
highest  power  and  most  varied  accomplishments ; 
but  all  these  considerations  are  scattered  to  the 
winds  and  reduced  to  their  just  dimensions  if  we 
have  adequate  cause  to  believe  that  the  actual  voice 
of  the  Divine  Being  was  ever  heard  to  say,  mercifully 
revealing  that  which  His  creatures  could  not  finally 
and  conclusively  discover,  "  I  am  the  Almighty  God." 

If,  therefore,  we  are  prepared  to  accept   this  an- 


ALMIGHTY.  41 


noun  cement  as  in  any  sense  Divine,  and  consequently- 
authoritative  and  final,  let  us  see  what  it  brings  us 
to.  In  the  first  place  it  assures  us  of  the  power 
of  prayer.  As  soon  as  we  are  fully  persuaded  and 
sincerely  convinced  that  the  term  "Almighty"  is  not 
a  misnomer  as  applied  to  God, — that  it  is  a  term 
oftentimes  rising  involuntarily  to  our  lips,  which 
has  had  the  direct  sanction  of  the  Lord  Himself  in 
His  earliest  and  latest  revelations,  then  there  is  an 
end  altogether  to  any  abstract  theoretical  difficulties 
about  the  possibility  or  the  efficacy  of  prayer. 

It  is  a  very  just  remark,  that  though  very  few 
men  are  philosophers,  yet  an  unconscious  philo- 
sophy enters  into  and  tinges  all  forms  and  phases  of 
popular  thought  and  speech.  And  so  the  mass  of 
irrelevant  and  crude  ideas  on  the  subject  of  prayer 
that  we  frequently  meet  with  are  a  true  index  of 
the  philosophy  that  underlies  them.  Take,  for  ex- 
ample, the  old  stumbling-block  of  prayers  for  weather. 
If  we  are  persuaded  that  there  is  a  God,  and  that 
He  is  almighty — I  say,  if  we  are  indeed  persuaded 
of  those  primary  truths,  then  what  becomes  of  any 
theoretical  difficulty  about  prayers  for  weather } 
Just  this,  that  we  who  do  not  see  the  whole,  but  only 
see  the  smallest  possible  part,  cannot  regulate  the 
whole,  and  cannot  decide  how  the  part  is  to  be 
regulated  without  seriously  disarranging  the  whole; 
that  is  to  say,  that  we,  who  are  not  almighty, 
cannot  conceive  or  determine  how  He,  who  is  al- 
n^ighty,  is  to  act  under  certain  circumstances.     I  am 


42  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

at  a  loss  to  know  what  issue  such  difficulties  come 
to,  and  I  am  sure  that  if  we  admit  the  theoretical 
cogency  of  these  difficulties,  it  becomes  very  hard 
indeed  to  say  at  what  point  the  difficulties  cease,  or 
to  determine  what  particular  thing  it  is  we  may 
pray  for,  or  to  decide  whether  any  prayer  at  all  is  in 
the  abstract  possible,  or,  therefore,  to  affirm  that  the 
Son  of  Man  did  not  deceive  us  when  He  who  knew 
the  Father  said,  Ask^  and  it  shall  be  given  you} ;  and. 
All  things  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  prayer,  believing, 
ye  shall  receive? 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  having  settled  that  point 
once  for  all,  and  having  accepted  God's  own 
endorsement  of  the  term  "  almighty  "  as  accurately 
appropriate  when  applied  to  Him,  see  what  scope  it 
gives  to  the  exercise  of  prayer.  I  really  do  not  know 
what  it  is  that  we  may  not  pray  for  if  only  we  are 
content  to  associate  with  our  prayer  the  indispens- 
able and  the  ever  implied  condition,  if  it  be  Thy 
will, — Not  my  will,  but  Thine  be  done?  When  our 
blessed  Lord  said.  Let  this  cup  pass  from  me^  He 
was  asking  for  that  which,  within  all  conceivable 
limits,  could  not  be  granted  ;  He  was  certainly  asking 
what  was  as  theoretically  difficult  as  any  change  in 
the  weather;  and  yet  that  revelation  did  not  prevent 
His  asking  it.  Surely,  then,  His  example,  if  He  is 
an  example  for  us,  may  be  our  guide  in  this  matter. 

My  brethren,  there  is  nothing  more  calculated  to 

*  Matt.  vii.  7.  '  Luke  xxii.  42. 

2  Matt.  xxi.  22.  *  Matt.  xxvi.  39, 


ALMIGHTY. 


43 


restrain  prayer  before  God  than  any  limitations  which 
our  carnal  reason  may  choose  to  assign  to  the  almighty 
power  of  Almighty  God.  That  such  limitations  do 
exist  is  of  course  an  obvious  truth  :  for  instance, 
Grod  cannot  recall  the  past,  and  God  cannot  tell  a 
lie  ;  God  cannot  make  that  which  is  in  itself  wrong  to 
be  in  itself  right.  •  It  is  He  who  has  established  the 
eternal  distinctions  between  right  and  wrong,  and  He 
cannot,  because  He  will  not,  confound  or  abolish 
them.  This  also  is  the  opposite  side  of  that  other 
truth  which  declares  that  God  is  almighty  ;  but  are 
our  minds  so  exceedingly  circumscribed  that  they 
cannot  hold  in  their  integrity  and  in  their  indepen- 
dence two  distinct  and  opposite  truths  ?  All  such 
truths  are  reconcilable  because  they  are  united  by 
an  invisible  bond  which  we  cannot  discover,  just  as  no 
man  ever  yet  discovered  the  axis  of  the  earth,  on 
which,  however,  all  men  know  that  the  earth  revolves. 
But  in  the  matter  of  prayer  it  is  enough  for  us  to 
know  that  there  is  absolutely  no  limit  to  the 
almighty  power  of  God  except  the  almighty  will  of 
God,  coupled  indeed  with  the  knowledge  of  that 
which  is  for  our  absolute  good.  We  that  are  fathers 
would  gladly  give  anything  that  we  can  to  our 
children  if  we  believed  it  was  for  their  good;  and 
shall  not  He  who  is  the  Almighty  Father  give  unto 
us,  His  children,  out  of  His  infinite  resources,  that 
which  He  knows  is  for  our  good  } — and  more  than 
that  we  should  not  be  wise  in  desiring. 

The  revelation  of  the  name  "Almighty"  has,  how- 


44  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

ever,  another  and  a  very  intimate  relation  to  ourselves, 
with  which  it  is  joined  in  God's  words  to  Abram, 
Walk  before  .me^  and  be  thou  perfect.  And  it  is 
here  that  we  discover  the  evidence  that  the  former 
announcement  was  a  true  revelation,  because  the 
truth  which  is  now  implied  is  precisely  that  which 
the  natural  mind  cannot  discover,  and  never  has  dis- 
covered, namely,  that  in  the  walking  before  God 
lies  the  secret  and  the  power  of  human  perfection. 
Now,  man  believes  that  so  far  as  man  approximates 
to  perfection  it  must  be  by  the  development  and  in- 
tegrity of  his  moral  character.  Humanly  speaking, 
the  perfect  man  is  he  who  is  perfect  in  his  relations 
to  his  fellow-man,  and  human  judgment  can  take 
cognisance  of  no  other  perfection*  The  just,  the 
upright,  the  merciful,  the  pure,  in  human  estima- 
tion, is  the  perfect  man — at  least  it  can  exhibit 
and  demand  no  higher  perfection ;  and  yet  such  per- 
fection is  but  another  name  for  imperfection,  is  in 
the  highest  degree  imperfect,  because  it  concerns 
itself  only  with  one  side  of  human  nature,  and  that 
the  smallest  side.  Now  God  says  to  Abram  nothing 
about  his  moral  character,  that  is,  his  conduct  to 
his  fellow-man,  but  only  says.  Walk  before  me,  a7id 
be  thou  perfect ;  or,  in  other  words,  "  Walk  before 
me,  and  thou  shalt  be  perfect.  I  will  guarantee 
that  thy  perfection  follows  as  a  natural  consequence 
upon  thy  walk  before  me."  Perfection,  therefore, 
is  not  a  thing  built  up  out  of  the  materials  of  human 
life  on    the   basis  of  conduct    towards   our  fellows. 


ALMIGHTY.  45 


but  it  is  a  thing  which  follows  naturally  and  spon- 
taneously from  the  just  perception  and  true  realisa- 
tion of  the  position  and  relation  in  which  we  stand 
to  God.  That  is  to  say,  human  perfection  is  to  be 
found  in  God  ;  not  in  human  conduct,  but  in  the 
Divine  regulation  of  the  life,  in  its  disposition  God- 
wards,  which  when  it  is  as  it  should  be  carries  with 
it  and  secures  the  right  discharge  of  all  duties 
relating  to  our  fellow-man.  And  here  we  recognise 
very  plainly  the  vital  force  of  that  blessed  Gospel 
truth,  that  a  man  is  not  justified  by  his  works,  but 
by  faith  towards  God.  That  which  makes  a  man 
truly  righteous  is  not  any  effort  on  his  part  to 
achieve  in  action  a  completeness  and  wholeness  of 
character  which  may  command,  if  it  does  not  aim  at 
securing,  the  admiration  of  his  fellow-men,  the  com- 
mendation of  himself,  but  the  fact  that,  leaning  on 
the  invisible  God,  looking  to  the  Father  who  is 
almighty,  who  can  call  those  things  which  be  not  as 
though  they  were,  he  finds  in  Him  a  righteousness  and 
perfection  which  he  has  utterly  renounced  in  himself, 
but  which  having  been  found  in  Him  has  a  necessary 
and  inevitable  tendency  to  dominate  and  sanctify  all 
his  human  and  mundane  relations,  and  which  is 
personally  and  inwardly  the  realisation  of  an  idea 
which  cannot  otherwise  be  achieved,  but  is  doomed 
to  perpetual  and  recurring  disappointment.  And 
thus  the  old  words  are  verified  when  we  know  the 
Almighty  God,  for  we  walk  before  Him  and  are 
perfect. 


47 


V. 

MAKER    OF  HEA  VEN  AND  EARTH, 

Happy  is  he  that  hath  the  God  of  Jacob  for  his  help,  whose  hope 
is  in  the  Lord  his  God  :  which  made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all 
that  therein  is  :  which  keepeth  truth  for  ever.— Psalm  cxlvi.  5,  6. 

T^HE  next  truth  which  is  brought  before  us  in 
■^  the  Apostles'  Creed  is  that  God  the  Father 
Almighty  is  maker  of  heaven  and  earth.  The  Nicene 
Creed  adds,  "And  of  all  things  visible  and  invisible  ;  " 
thereby  seeming  to  imply  what  the  other  does  not  ex- 
plicitly state — the  existence  of  an  invisible,  that  is, 
an  immaterial,  world  of  spiritual  essences.  Hitherto 
the  conception  of  God  has  been  that  of  a  supreme 
omnipotent  fatherly  Being,  who  stands  in  special  re- 
lations to  us  His  children,  which  He  has  made  known 
to  us  by  revelation.  Now  we  have  another  aspect  of 
His  character,  which  is  that  of  the  Creator  of  this 
material  universe,  and  of  all  the  beings  that  inhabit 
it.  This  is  a  very  important  fact  concerning  our 
belief  in  God,  and  one  by  no  means  so  simple  as  it 
may  appear.  For  all  difficulties  about  revelation 
easily  resolve  themselves  into  the  question  whether 
the  God  of  the  Bible  is  the  God  of  nature  ;  and 
thus  the  very  argument  of  Bishop  Butler's  Analogy 


48  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

was  this,  that  objections  to  the  Scriptural  revelation 
were  virtually  groundless,  because  the  same  difficul- 
ties confronted  us  in  our  observation  of  nature  which 
were  thought  to  be  fat3,l  to  the  Divine  origin  of 
revelation.  Now  it  is  one  of  the  most  conspicuous 
glories  of  the  old  Hebrew  Scriptures  that  they  are 
distinct  and  unfaltering  in  their  testimony  on  this 
point.  There  is  no  hesitation  or  ambiguity  in  their 
utterances  about  it.  The  very  first  words  of  them 
are,  In  the  begimiing  God  created  the  heaven  and 
the  earth;  and  here  in  this  Psalm  we  have  the 
clear  assertion  that  the  God  of  Jacob  is  He  who 
made  heaven  and  eai'th,  the  sea^  and  all  that  therein 
is.  I  would  just  point  out  by  the  way  that  the 
writer  was  manifestly  conversant  with,  and  is  re- 
ferring to,  the  Mosaic  narrative  of  creation  in  the 
opening  chapter  of  Genesis, — that  must  have  been 
the  foundation  of  his  knowledge,  even  as  it  is  the 
authority  for  ours, — and  then  proceed  to  develop 
the  thought  as  it  is  here  expressed,  and  deduce  the 
consequences  which  follow  from  it. 

When  we  say  that  God  made  the  heaven  and  the 
earthy  and  the  sea,  and  all  that  therein  is,  what  do  we 
mean  ?  Is  our  assertion  what  may  be  called  historic, 
or  is  it  chiefly  causal } — that  is  to  say,  does  it  refer 
principally  to  a  moment  in  the  past  when  these  things 
did  not  exist,  or  does  it  speak  rather  of  their  existence 
in  the  present,  and  point  us  to  what  is  behind  them, 
out  of  sight,  as  their  primal  ^  origin  and  cause  1  I 
think   that   commonly,  from  the  ideas  of  sequence 


MAKER  OF  HE  A  VEN  AND  EARTH.  49 

which  are  innate  to  our  minds,  we  do  associate  with 
this  statement  one  of  time  which  does  seem  to  carry 
us   back   to   that   distant  past  when    there  was  no 
heaven  or  earth  or  sea.     And  at  a  period  when  the 
present  existence  of  the  world  was  commonly  believed 
to  date  only  from  some  six  thousand  years  ago  it 
was  very  easy  not  only  to  do  so  but  to  acquiesce 
in   doing  it.     Vast  as  that  space  of  time  is,  for  it 
more   than    embraced  the  whole   of  known   human 
history,  it  was  as  nothing  to  what  was  beyond  it,  for 
beyond  it  there  was  an  eternity  of  nothing — chaos 
and  old  night.      Now  that  science  has  taught  us  that 
the  past  of  the  existing  universe  is,  humanly  speak- 
ing, unlimited,  that  the  human  faculties  are  totally 
incompetent  to  measure  or  to  grasp  it,  there  arises 
at  once  a  needless  difficulty  as  to  the  conception  of 
this  particular  point  of  past  time  in  which  God  made 
the  heaven  and  the  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  all  that 
is  therein.     We  not  unnaturally  find  it    impossible 
to  conceive  of  such  a  moment  or  of  such  a  condition 
of  circumstances.     It  baffles  our  powers.     Whereas 
then    ignorance   told    us   there   was  an   eternity  of 
emptiness    preceding   the   existing   order  of  things, 
which  was,  comparatively  speaking,  but  of  yesterday, 
science  has  taught  us  to  extend  the  eternity  to  the 
existing   order   of   things,    and   leave    the    previous 
eternity,    which    even    science    cannot    get    rid    of 
entirely,  alone,  because  our  powers  must  fail  some- 
where, and  they  may  as  well  fail  there.      The  con- 
ception  of  an   eternity  of  chaos,  upon  which  there 

4 


50  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

supervened  six  thousand  years  of  order,  may  have 
been  hard  to  conceive  or  reah'se;  but  it  is  not  harder 
to  accept  what  it  is  clear  from  science  we  must 
accept — an  eternity  of  order  supervening  upon  an 
eternity  of  what  we  know  not  and  cannot  designate. 
It  may  well  be  doubted  how  far  the  actual  state- 
ments of  the  Bible  are  responsible  for  some  of  these 
conceptions  which  we  know  now  to  have  been  mis- 
conceptions. Certain  it  is  that  in  Scripture  no  limit 
has  been,  as  no  limit  can  be,  assigned  to  that  begin- 
ning, in  which  we  are  told  that  God  made  the  heaven 
and  the  earth.  But  now  that  from  various  causes 
our  conceptions  of  past  time  have  become  so  vastly 
increased,  it  may  be  as  well  to  ask  ourselves  whether 
there  is  not  another  and  more  profitable  way  of 
understanding  what  is  meant  by  God's  making  the 
heaven  and  the  earth ;  because  it  is  certain  that 
the  further  we  put  backward  the  first  original  crea- 
tive act  the  less  practical  bearing  it  has  upon  us. 
And  therefore  it  is  as  well  to  inquire  what  this 
creative  act  of  God  implies. 

Now  although  of  course  all  attempts  at  in- 
vestigating the  first  origin  of  things  must  neces- 
sarily be  futile,  because  beyond  our  reach,  yet  it 
is  as  well  to  divest  our  minds  of  any  erroneous 
notions  which  may  serve  to  make  the  hard  yet 
harder  ;  and  therefore  I  would  say  that  it  does 
seem  to  me  that  great  light  breaks  in  upon  this 
profound  and  abstruse  subject  from  our  blessed 
Lord's   words.   My  Father  worketh  hitherto^   and  I 


MAKER  OF  HE  A  VEN  AND  EARTH.  51 

work ;  more  particularly  when  His  argument  there 
seems  to  show  that  just  as  God's  creative  work 
ceases  not  on  the  Sabbath-day,  so  there  is  no 
necessity  for  His  own  redemptive  work  to  cease 
then.  For  does  not  this  show  us  that  creation  is 
not  a  completed  but  a  continued  work  ?  that  it  is 
an  act  in  progress,  and  not  an  act  performed  once 
for  all  ?  And  I  do  think  it  is  highly  requisite  that 
we  should  take  this  view  of  creation  as  being  the 
really  Scripture  view,  more  especially  when  we 
are  confronted  with  these  inconceivable  periods  of 
past  time  which  can  only  paralyse  and  astound 
the  mind.  There  is  no  analogy  between  God's 
making  the  world  and  a  man's  making  a  watch  or 
any  other  complex  piece  of  machinery.  For  as 
soon  as  a  man  has  made  a  watch  his  work  is  done, 
and  it  will  continue  to  perform  its  functions,  be 
they  what  they  may,  according  to  its  capability 
and  perfection;  the  work  is  made,  and  it  goes  on 
of  itself ;  but  this  is  not  the  case  with  God's  piece 
of  mechanism,  the  universe,  for  that  when  called 
into  existence  cannot  go  on  of  itself  for  a  single 
moment  without  Him,  nay  more,  it  is  even  now 
in  process  of  formation  ;  the  world  of  to-day  is  not 
the  world  of  yesterday,  nor  is  it  the  world  which 
will  be  to-morrow.  All  things  are  in  a  condition 
of  continual  and  constant  change,  and  no  two 
successive  moments  witness  the  existence  of  identi- 
cally the  same  world.  My  Father  worketh  hitherto, — 
there  is   the   creative  energy  now  being  put  forth, 

UHIVERSITl 


52  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

now  in  operation.  God  is  now  making  the  world 
that  now  is,  and  to-morrow  He  will  then  be  making 
the  world  that  then  will  be.  This  is  what  creation 
implies  ;  and  this  is  how  we  are  to  look  for  the 
Creator,  not  as  a  being  who  six  thousand  years,  or 
six  hundred  thousand  millions  of  years,  ago  made 
the  world,  and  left  it  as  He  made  it,  but  as  a  being 
who  now  in  every  form  of  life  is  causing,  upholding, 
creating,  preserving,  changing,  and  destroying  what 
exists.  It  is  a  profound  mystery ;  mind  cannot 
fathom  it,  thought  cannot  follow  it,  tongue  cannot 
define  it,  but  of  this  sort  it  is.  This  is  at  least 
an  aspect  of  the  creative  act  upon  which  we  must 
by  no  means  suffer  any  bare,  bald  historic  thought 
or  conception  of  it  fatally  to  usurp.  What  the  rela- 
tion is  between  the  work  created  as  we  behold  it 
and  the  Creator,  or  what  the  method  of  operation 
is  which  binds  the  two  together,  we  cannot  imagine ; 
but  this  it  is  that  the  words  maker  of  heaven  and 
earth  suggest  to  me  ;  and  when  I  am  told  that  in 
the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the 
earth,  I  understand  that  at  some  one  inconceivably 
distant  point  or  epoch  of  past  time  He  caused  to  go 
forth  that  power  which,  however  it  may  have  ope- 
rated at  successive  stages  or  periods,  or  on  what- 
soever graduated  plan,  we  still  see  on  every  hand 
working  the  wonders  that  it  Vorketh,  whether  in 
inanimate  nature  or  in  the  complex  machinery  of 
our  own  changing  bodies.  And  it  is  the  Word 
alone  which  reveals  or  can  reveal  this  God  to  us. 


MAKER  OF  HE  A  VEN  AND  EARTH.  53 

Has  it  ever  occurred  to  you,  as  it  often  has  to  me, 
to  ask  yourselves  what  kind  of  a  world  this  would  be 
if  there  were  no  God  in  it  ?  Let  us  put  hypotheti- 
cally  the  inconceivable  and  impossible  hypothesis 
that  the  world  as  we  see  it  existed,  but  that  there 
was  no  God.  Then,  on  the  hypothesis,  the  trees 
would  still  be  green,  the  flowers  would  be  bright  and 
fair  and  lovely,  the  breezes  would  still  blow  laden 
with  the  ravished  scents  of  the  gardens  and  the  fields 
of  May,  the  sun  would  still  shine,  the  rainbow  would 
still  span  the  vault  of  heaven,  the  moon  and  the  stars 
would  still  be  bright  and  glorious,  the  sea  would  still 
smile  with  his  many-twinkling  radiant  splendour,  but 
there  would  be  no  God  behind  it  all.  Everything 
would  be  a  cause  to  itself,  and  there  an  end.  The 
greatest  known  brightness  would  be  the  brightness 
of  the  sun,  the  greatest  known  beauty  would  be  the 
beauty  of  the  earth,  the  greatest  known  strength 
would  be  the  strength  of  nature,  and  there  would 
be  nothing  more  ;  there  would  be  no  past  and  no 
future,  because  all  would  be  but  the  extension  back- 
wards and  forwards  of  the  same  unvaried  but  ever- 
varying  present ;  the  life  of  the  universe  would 
proclaim  no  life,  it  would  only  proclaim  itself ;  it 
would  not  say,  "  Look  on  me,  and  judge  how  fair, 
how  glorious  He  must  be,"  but  only,  "  Rest  content 
with  me,  for  I  am  all,  and  there  is  none  besides." 
The  glories  of  heaven  would  not  say, 

For  ever  singing  as  they  shine, 
The  hand  thai  made  us  is  Divine. 


54  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

but  "There  is  no  hand  that  made  us.  We  exist 
because  we  are,  by  some  inscrutable,  unaccountable 
necessity.  We  always  have  been,  and  we  always 
shall  be."  Now  I  cannot  venture  to  say  what  you 
would  think  and  feel  if  this  were  so,  but  I  can 
distinctly  say  for  myself  that  fair  as  the  trees  and 
the  flowers  and  the  stars  and  the  sky  and  the  sea 
might  be,  they  would  have  no  beauty  left  for  me. 
Their  very  loveliness  would  make  me  sick  at  heart, 
for  I  could  not  love  them  ;  they  would  fail  to  satisfy 
me,  for  they  would  be  like  the  apples  of  Sodom,  dust 
within  ;  and  this  magnificent  universe  would  be  no 
longer  the  temple  of  the  living  God,  but  a  pictured, 
painted  charnel-house. 

And  then  let  me  set  over  against  this  picture  the 
simple,  glorious  words  of  the  old  Hebrew  poet. 
Blessed  is  he  that  hath  the  God  of  Jacob  for  his 
help,  aiid  whose  hope  is  in  the  Lord  his  God :  who 
made  heaven  and  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  all  that 
therein  is ;  who  keepeth  His  promise  for  ever.  Or 
the  words  of  the  Christian  Creed,  "  I  believe  in  God 
the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth." 

And  now  let  me  show  you  wherein  the  difference 
lies.  The  one  begins  with  what  it  cannot  deny,  with 
what  it  looks  out  upon  and  perceives  with  the  natural 
eye  and  touches  with  the  natural  hand,  and  goes  no 
further  ;  it  sees  no  more  and  feels  no  more.  The 
other  begins  with  what  it  does  not  see,  with  what  it 
can  not  touch,  and  then  comes  down  to  behold  the 
works  that  He  has  made,  and  because  it  comes  with 


MAKER  OF  HE  A  VEN  AND  EARTH.  55 

Him,  beholds  them  fair  ;  it  looks  out  upon  them  with 
the  eyes  of  God  ;  and  God  saw  everything  that  He 
had  made^  and,  behold,  it  was  very  good.  And  say 
what  we  will,  this  is  the  only  true  order :  unless  man 
will  begin  with  God,  he  must  end  with  nature  ;  but 
ending  with  nature,  he  cannot  even  behold  all  the 
glory  of  nature.  If  we  begin  with  nature,  we  cannot 
look  up  through  nature  unto  nature's  God  ;  but  if 
we  begin  with  God,  then  we  not  only  see  Him  before 
nature,  but  likewise  in  nature  and  beyond  nature. 
Hence  the  Christian  Creed  and  the  words  of  the 
Psalmist  alike  show  us  the  indispensable  necessity  of 
faith.  We  must  begin,  not  with  what  we  can  prove, 
but  with  what  we  must  take  for  granted.  For  we 
cannot  prove  the  existence  of  God,  or  the  love  of  the 
Father,  or  the  being  of  the  Creator  ;  but  if  we  accept 
these  facts,  they  will  explain  all  others  ;  and  if  we 
reject  them,  all  others  will  reject  us  as  their  inter- 
preters ;  they  will  be  and  will  remain  unexplained 
and  inexplicable  enigmas. 

If,  then,  the  eyes  of  our  mind  are  opened  by  faith 
so  as  to  behold  in  nature  the  present  and  living  God 
of  nature,  we  shall  know  that  though  nature  may 
and  must  be  His  handiwork,  it  can  be  no  part  of 
Him.  It  may  proclaim  Him,  speak  of  Him,  point 
to  Him,  be  the  echo  of  His  voice  or  the  shadow  of 
His  presence,  but  it  will  be  other  than  He  ;  and  as 
He  is  apart  from  nature,  utterly  and  entirely  dis- 
engaged therefrom,  choosing  to  reveal  Himself  in 
nature,  but  not  obliged  to  do  so,  so  likewise  will  He 


56  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

be  before  and  after  nature  ;  there  will  of  necessity- 
have  been  a  beginning  in  which  He  was  without 
nature,  in  which  He  called  nature  into  being  ;  and 
certainly,  as  existing  nature  is  ever  changing  and 
passing  away,  there  will  be  a  moment  when  He  will 
at  least  be  without  nature  as  she  now  is  ;  when  the 
first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  that  were  created  in 
the  beginning  are  passed  away,  and  there  shall  be  no 
more  sea,  whatever  that  may  mean  ;  but  we  shall 
look  out  upon  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth, 
even  as  He  hath  said.  Behold,  I  make  all  things 
new.  And  thus  the  conception  of  the  Psalmist  will 
be  verified,  Thou,  Lord,  in  the  beginning  hast  laid 
the  foundation  of  the  earth,  and  the  heavens  are  the 
works  of  Thine  hands :  they  shall  perish,  but  Thou 
shalt  endure ;  and  they  shall  all  wax  old  like  a 
garment,  ajtd  as  a  vesture  shalt  Thou  change  them, 
and  they  shall  be  chaiiged ;  but  Thou  art  the  same, 
and  Thy  years  shall  not  fail. 

Need  we  say,  in  conclusion,  that  unless  a  man  can 
thus  see  in  the  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth,  whom 
the  external  world,  the  sea,  and  the  sky  proclaim, 
the  Lord  his  God  ;  unless  he  can  recognise  in  the 
omnipotent  Creator  a  Father,  he  will  not,  as  the 
Psalmist  says,  be  blessed?  He  may  not  only  have  an 
eye  for  the  beautiful  like  the  artist,  a  soul  for  the 
fair  and  lovely  like  the  poet,  but  also  the  power  of 
making  these  his  own  ;  earth,  out  of  the  abundance 
of  her  stores,  may  pour  into  his  lap  of  her  treasures 
and   her  wealth  ;   but   unless  he  has  a  part  in  the 


MAKER  OF  HE  A  VEN  AND  EARTH.  57 

Lord  of  all,  her  very  riches  and  glory  will  leave  him 
bankrupt  and  destitute  :  he  will  be  like  a  sick  man 
at  a  banquet,  unable  to  taste  the  fatness  of  the 
pastures  or  the  sweetness  of  the  vineyard,  for  all 
will  be  dashed  with  bitterness  and  emptiness  and 
poverty.  It  is  he  only  who  can  say  that  his  hope  is 
in  the  Lord  his  God,  who  can  claim  Him  for  his  own, 
and  know  that  having  given  himself  to  God  and  his 
heart  to  Christ,  God  has  given  Himself  in  Christ  to 
him,  who  has  found,  by  the  sure  test  of  personal 
experience,  that  He  keepeth  His  promise  and  His 
truth  for  ever, — yea,  even  to  a  thousand  generations, 
— who  can  call  himself  blessed  ;  but  he  can,  for  the 
God  of  blessing  is  his  portion  here,  and  will  be  the 
fulness  of  his  joy  for  ever. 


59 


VI. 
AND  IN  JESUS. 

Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,  and  thy 
house. — Acts  xvi.  31. 

T  T ITHERTO  we  have  been  concerned  with 
^  -■-  those  articles  of  the  Creed  which  receive 
light  from  the  Christian  revelation,  but  are  not 
especially  Christian, — the  nature  of  God,  the  cha- 
racter of  God,  the  relation  of  God  to  the  world  in 
which  we  live,  and  the  like.  Now  we  approach  an 
entirely  different  stage,  which  is  directly  and  exclu- 
sively Christian,  inasmuch  as  it  relates  to  the  person 
of  Jesus  Christ.  Let  us  observe,  then,  in  the  first 
place,  that  this  comes  before  us  in  the  Creed  as  a 
separate  and  additional  article:  "I  believe  in  God 
the  Father  .  .  .  and  in  Jesus  Christ."  Now  what 
do  we  mean  when  we  say  "  I  believe  in  Jesus  Christ"  ? 
Clearly  each  person  who  joins  in  that  confession  of 
faith  pledges  himself  to  the  acceptance  of  it.  The 
prayers  that  are  offered  in  this  church  are  not  offered 
as  individual  supplications.  They  are  all  couched 
in  the  language  of  number, — "Good  Lord,  deliver 
us;"  "We  humbly  beseech  Thee,  O  Lord,"  and  the 
like.     But  with  the  Creed  it  is  very  different ;  there 


6o  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

we  seem  to  have  no  desire  to  lose  our  individuality, 
but  to  assert  it.  We  do  not  attempt  to  merge  our- 
selves and  our  own  wants  in  the  persons  and  the 
wants  of  others,  but  we  try  to  come  out  of  the 
multitude,  we  endeavour  to  individualise  ourselves, 
and  adopt  the  language  of  solitude  and  unity, — "/ 
believe."  Now  this  fact  cannot  be  too  carefully  noticed, 
for  it  expresses  and  reflects  a  great  truth.  Faith  is  a 
personal  matter;  it  concerns  the  soul  in  its  solitude, 
in  its  individual  responsibility  before  God.  Our  own 
faith  is  no  concern  of  others,  the  faith  of  others  is  no 
concern  of  ours.  Each  unit  is  answerable  for  his  or 
her  faith  to  Almighty  God,  and  to  Him  alone.  But 
as  Christians  we  all  have  a  certain  faith  in  common, 
the  profession  of  which  is  a  bond  of  union  between 
the  several  units.  If  for  any  reason  this  common 
faith  is  not  our  own  faith,  then  by  that  circumstance, 
independently  of  any  other,  we  are  cut  off  from  the 
unity  of  the  Christian  body.  It  is  obvious  that  this 
must  be  so.  If  Christians  are  people  who  believe  in 
Christ,  and  we  ourselves  do  not  believe  in  Christ,  then 
we  are  necessarily  cut  off  from  the  unity  of  Christian 
people.  This  is  surely  self-evident.  We  may,  of 
course,  defend  ourselves  on  the  ground  that  we 
object,  for  example,  to  the  formula  of  the  Christian 
Creed  ;  we  may  deny  its  authority,  or  refuse  to  be 
bound  by  it;  but  so  far  as  that  Creed  is  the  Creed 
of  Christendom,  so  far  as  it  expresses  the  faith  of 
Christian  people,  we  are  excluded  by  our  rejection 
of  it.     The   test   is   applied  to  us,  and  we   cannot 


AND  IN  JESUS.  6i 


Stand  the  test.  We  are  witnesses  to  ourselves,  and 
the  Creed  is  a  witness  against  us.  I  do  not  propose 
now  to  examine  the  authority  of  the  Christian  creed, 
but  to  accept  it  as  the  recognised  authority  of  all 
Christian  men,  and  to  enquire  what  it  implies  and 
involves,  as  it  is  propounded  to  us  in  the  familiar 
apostolic  symbol. 

And  it  is  manifest  on  the  threshold .  of  this  sub- 
ject that  there  are  momentous  issues  involved.  The 
Christian  Creed  is  not  a  theory  or  a  sentiment,  or  an 
opinion  ;  it  is  a  belief,  it  is  that  which  is  the  subject- 
matter  of  conviction,  the  result  of  deliberate  and 
entire  persuasion;  but  it  professes  also  to  be  the 
means  and  the  condition  of  salvation.  Among  the 
ancient  schools  of  philosophy,  no  one  ever  pretended 
that  his  own  particular  tenets  were  necessary  to 
salvation.  The  disciples  of  the  various  schools  were 
no  doubt  very  eager  and  earnest  for  the  maintenance 
of  their  personal  doctrines,  as  men  always  have  a 
tendency  to  become  on  any  abstract  question,  but 
none  ever  went  so  far  as  to  promise  or  deny  salva- 
tion according  as  they  were  rejected  or  received. 
But  this  was  notoriously  and  historically  the  case 
with  the  Christian  Creed  from  the  very  first.  It 
presented  itself  before  men,  alike  in  the  teaching  of 
our  Lord  and  His  apostles,  as  the  one  condition  of 
salvation.  The  compendious  assertion  of  the  text 
was  the  answer  given  by  Paul  and  Silas  to  the 
anxious  jailer  at  Philippi,  when  he  inquired  with 
fear  and  trembling,  "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved .?" 


62  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

He  that  believeth  and  is  baptised  shall  be  saved^ 
were  among  the  last  words  spoken  by  Christ  upon 
earth.  I  do  not  see  how  it  is  possible  to  escape 
from  this.  If  the  Christian  faith  professes  to  do  any- 
thing for  a  man,  it  professes  to  save  him.  It  does 
not  propose  itself  as  an  opinion  he  may  hold  or  not 
as  he  pleases,  but  it  assures  him  that  in  holding  it — 
whatever  may  be  implied  by  holding  it — he  is  safe. 
While,  however,  so  much  is  absolutely  certain,  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  so  doing  the  Chris- 
tian Creed  implies  no  reference  to  any  who  may 
happen  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  its  influence.  It 
tells  us  nothing  about  those  who  are  ignorant  of  the 
name  of  Christ  ;  it  tells  us  nothing  of  those  who 
lived  before  He  came  ;  it  pronounces  nothing  as 
to  the  condition  of  Socrates,  or  of  those  ancient 
worthies  for  whom  we  hope  so  much,  but  of  whom 
we  know  so  little.  It  is  absolutely  silent  with 
regard  to  all  questions  that  may  be  asked  on  these 
and  kindred  subjects.  All  that  it  professes  to  do, 
is  to  put  him  who  accepts  it  in  a  state  of  salvation, 
to  assure  him  that  his  condition  before  and  after 
acceptance  is  marked  by  the  difference  between 
being  saved  and  lost.  It  reveals  a  great  want  in 
humanity,  a  deep  gulf  .in  the  spiritual  nature,  from 
which  it  promises  to  rescue  us,  and  which  it  offers  to 
supply,  but  with  respect  to  all  others  it  asks.  Who 
art  thou  that  judgest  another  mans  servant ?  to  his 
own  master  he  standeth  or  falleth ;^  and,  Shall  not  the 

*  I  Rom.  xiv.  4. 


AND  IN  JESUS,  63 


Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right  ?^  Yea,  we  may  go 
further.  While  the  promises  of  the  Christian  faith  are 
directly  addressed  to  those  who  embrace  them,  and 
to  those,  therefore,  whose  consciousness  readily  and 
gladly  responds  to  their  truth,  and  while  it  cannot 
but  withhold  these  promises  from  others  who  do  not 
embrace  them,  it  simply  gives  us  no  power  to  pro- 
nounce upon  the  case  of  those  who  from  mental 
constitution  or  what  not,  are  honest  (but  honest  and 
truth-loving  they  must  be)  in  their  rejection  of  them, 
and  are  unable  to  embrace  them  ;  it  distinctly 
declares  that  there  is  a  special  happiness  and  bless- 
ing reserved  for  those  who  do  embrace  them,  into 
which  no  stranger  can  enter ;  but  with  reference 
to  the  rest  it  says,  The  Father  judgeth  no  man^ 
but  hath  committed  all  judgment  unto  the  Son. 

For  be  it  observed  that  the  Christian  faith  implies 
the  consciousness  of  a  great  want ;  it  does  not  enter 
the  arena  of  public  discussion  for  the  sake  of  com- 
peting with  the  various  systems  of  human  invention, 
but  it  comes  to  a  world  which  is  awakened  to  its 
lost  condition.  It  is  only  when  the  question.  What 
must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  has  been  asked,  with  all  its 
attendant  agony,  that  the  reply  is  spoken,  Believe 
on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved. 
It  is  perfectly  futile  and  hopeless,  therefore,  to 
advance  the  claims  of  the  Christian  faith,  or  to 
argue  for  them  never  so  cogently,  as  long  as  there 
is  no  response  within  to  the  want  which  it  offers  to 

*  Gen.  xviii.  25. 


64  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

satisfy.  They  that  are  whole  have  no  need  of  the 
physician^  but  they  that  are  sick}  When  we  are  in 
rude  health  and  strength  we  may  deem  lightly  of 
medical  science  and  skill;  but  when  those  dear  to  us 
are  in  imminent  danger,  or  we  ourselves  seem  to 
catch  a  glimpse  of  the  wings  of  the  approaching 
angel  of  death,  then,  as  drowning  men  who  clutch 
at  a  straw,  we  are  only  too  thankful  for  the  advice 
and  the  presence  of  the  physician,  we  anticipate  his 
visits  with  eagerness,  and  take  leave  of  him  with 
reluctance.  And  so  long  as  the  spiritual  state  is 
whole-hearted  and  unconscious  of  something  wrong 
within,  it  is  vain  to  expect  that  the  message  of  the 
Good  Physician  will  be  received  with  welcome. 
There  are  but  too  many  obvious  reasons  why  it 
should  be  unwelcome,  and  the  only  thing  that  man 
can  do  when  his  Maker  has  failed,  is  to  stand  afar 
off  and  watch.  The  hour  has  not  come  yet,  and  it 
is  just  possible,  it  may  never  come  in  this  world  ; 
but  this  world  is  not  all,  and  it  is  only  when  things 
visible  have  passed  away,  and  things  invisible  have 
begun  to  be,  that  we  can  fully  decide  upon  the 
actual  merits  of  that  which  we  reject. 

And  how  is  it,  brethren,  with  ourselves  ?  Have 
we  hearts  that  are  open  to  the  message  of  the 
Gospel  ?  Are  we  conscious  of  deep  want  within  } 
Are  we  convinced  that  life  itself,  with  all  its  beauties 
and  bounties,  has  no  power  to  satisfy;  that  pleasure 
can  only  fatigue  and  pall;  that  riches  are  inadequate 
'  Mark  ii.  17. 


AND  IN  JESUS.  6$ 


to  feed  the  cravings  of  the  mind;  that  honour  and 
fame  and  ambition  are  apt  to  lose  their  charm  in 
proportion  to  the  success  with  which  they  are  pur- 
sued ?  Does  all  this  show  us,  or  rather,  does  it  not 
show  us,  that  whatever  our  outward  state,  within  we 
are  not  saved,  we  are  not  made  whole  and  sound  ? 
Putting  aside  for  the  time  all  questions  as  to  the 
ultimate  future,  is  it  not  sufficiently  patent  that  now, 
at  this  present  moment,  there  is  something  wanting, 
something  wrong ;  that  our  position  here,  in  the 
midst  even  of  a  prosperous  life,  is  an  eminently 
defective  one,  and  that  when  death  comes  it  is 
desperate,  and  after  death — a  blank  ?  In  the  con- 
templation of  all  this,  can  any  man  doubt  that  we 
are  not  saved  ;  that  there  is,  so  to  say,  an  open  field 
for  salvation,  if  only  we  could  find  it  ?  Setting  aside, 
then,  altogether,  for  the  while,  any  fears  and  mis- 
givings about  the  eternal  future,  about  the  just 
judgment  of  God,  and  the  degree  to  which  we  may 
have  incurred  it,  is  it  not  plain  that  we  want  health 
and  light  and  salvation,  if  so  be  we  can  get  it  ? 
Surely,  on  the  most  favourable  estimate,  our  condi- 
tion is  not  such  that  we  need  not  gladly  listen  to 
the  blessed  announcement,  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christy  and  thou  shalt  be  saved. 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  faith  in  Christ  is  propounded 
to  us  by  the  Christian  Creed  as  the  one  condition  of 
salvation.  Now,  what  is  implied  by  faith  in  Christ? 
For  the  present  we  may  answer  this  question  in  a 
threefold  manner,  reserving  the  further  consideration 

5 


66  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

of   it  for  future    discourses.     First,  faith    in  Christ 
assumes   and   implies   a   basis   of  historic   fact.     It 
can  never  be  sufficiently  inculcated  that  the  Chris- 
tian Creed  not  only  rests  upon  a  series  of  historic 
facts,  but  concerns  itself  with  facts  rather  than  with 
doctrines.     Taking  the  Apostles'   Creed  as  an  ade- 
quate and  authentic  definition  of  it,  we  see  at  once 
that  it  is  concerned  with  doctrines  less  than  facts. 
There    are    few    doctrines,    there    are    many    facts. 
Christianity  is  an  historic  religion.     The  facts  with 
which  it  is  concerned  ai^e  presented  to  us  as  of  the 
highest  importance  in  the  history  of  the  world ;  they 
have  affected  all  other  history.     The  life  and  death 
of  Jesus  was  of  infinitely  more  importance  than  the 
life   and   death   of   Alexander  or   of  Julius    Caesar, 
though  in  a  Christian  aspect  it  is  impossible  not  to 
see  that  the  life  and  death  of  Csesar  and  of  Alex- 
ander, certainly  their  lives,  had  a  very  direct  bearing 
upon  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  effects  of  His 
life.     The  conquest  of  Alexander,  for  instance,  made 
Greek  the  language  of  the  world,  and  so  introduced 
to  the  knowledge  of  mankind  the  Greek  version  of 
the  Jewish  Scriptures;  and  the  conquest  of  Caesar 
opened  this  country  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel, 
and   laid   the  foundation  of  its  present  position   in 
Christendom.     But  the  Christian  Church  cares  more 
to  teach  her  children  the  facts  of  the  life  of  Jesus 
Christ  than  she  does  to  teach  them  those  of  the  life 
of  Caesar  or  of  Alexander.     We  are  baptised  into  a 
belief  of  the  facts  of  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 


AND  IN  JESUS.  6^ 


when  we  are  on  our  death-bed  the  profession  which 
is  required  of  us  is  not  that  of  particular  doctrines, 
but  the  profession  of  the  articles  of  the  Apostles' 
Creed.  We  cannot,  therefore,  over-estimate  the  im- 
portance of  the  historic  basis  to  which  the  Chris- 
tian Creed  appeals.  Though  Jesus  Christ  was  no 
conqueror,  His  place  in  history  was  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  mankind  ;  and  just  as  Lord  Bacon 
or  George  Stephenson  achieved  a  greater  work  in 
the  world  than  Napoleon  or  Hannibal,  so  the  his- 
toric importance  of  the  life  of  Christ  eclipses  alto- 
gether that  of  the  greatest  names  in  history,  and 
the  entire  mass  of  human  history  cannot  but  be 
affected  by  such  significant  historic  facts  as  the  life 
and  death  and  resurrection  and  ascension  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

For,  secondly,  the  framework  of  fact  on  which  the 
Christian  Creed  rests  has  reference  to  a  particular 
man  of  whom  these  facts  are  related.  It  is  manifest 
that  whatever  else  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  may  mean, 
it  must  mean  that  He  truly  existed,  truly  lived  and 
died  and  rose  again.  Throw  any  doubt  on  the 
person  of  Christ,  and  there  is  an  end  at  once  and 
for  ever  to  all  belief  in  Jesus  Christ.  To  believe 
in  Jesus  Christ  manifestly  implies  that  there  was 
such  a  person.  But,  further,  to  believe  in  Him 
implies  also  that  He  was  a  unique  person,  because 
it  implies  an  attitude  towards  Him  which  is  de- 
manded towards  no  one  else, — it  implies  that  we 
believe  in  Him  as  we  believe  in  no  one  else.     That 


68  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

is  to  say,  it  implies  that  we  believe  in  Him  as  the 
Saviour,  we  believe  in  Him  unto  salvation.  These 
two  ideas  are  quite  distinct.  First,  we  believe  in 
Him  as  a  Saviour.  This  is  the  meaning  of  His 
name  "  Jesus  ; "  this  is  why  He  was  so  named,  that 
we  might  believe  in  Him  as  a  Saviour,  as  one  who 
could  save  us  from  our  sins.  That  which  we  feel 
within,  of  want  and  guilt  and  uncleanness,  and 
estrangement  from  God,  and  sin  and  wretchedness, 
is  removed  by  Jesus  ;  He  is  designed  as  the  suf- 
ficient remedy  for  it,  He  was  called  "  Jesus "  that 
He  might  deliver  us  from  it.  This  is  as  much  His 
name,  and  a  part  of  Him,  as  the  name  of  Caesar 
or  Hannibal  is  inseparable  from  them.  This  man 
is  only  known  in  history  as  Jesus;  it  was  the  name 
by  which  He  was  called  before  He  was  born,  it  was 
the  name  which  was  written  over  Him  when  He 
was  crucified  ;  and  in  itself  it  speaks  volumes,  for  it 
is  a  witness  that  He  claimed  to  be,  and  is,  a  Saviour, 
For  to  believe  in  Jesus  is  manifestly  to  believe  that  He 
is  what  His  name  proclaimed  Him  to  be,  a  Saviour. 
In  professing  this  belief,  then,  we  profess  that 
there  is  a  man  in  whom  we  can  find  that  salva- 
tion which  we  acknowledge  that  we  feel  we  want. 
This  belief  implies,  moreover,  that  the  influence  and 
power  of  this  person  is  not  over;  that  whereas  a 
belief  in  any  other  historic  character  simply  implies 
a  belief  that  his  character  is  historic,  that  he  actually 
did  exist,  but  implies  no  more,  belief  in  this  man 
shuts  us  up  to  belief  in  His  present  existence  and  His 


AND  IN  JESUS.  69 


present  power  to  save.  I  cannot  believe  in  Jesus 
if  I  suppose  that  when  He  died  there  was  an  end 
to  His  influence  and  power,  except  so  far  as  regards 
the  moral  influence  produced  by  His  life.  If  I  be- 
lieve in  Jesus,  I  not  only  believe  that  His  recorded 
words  have  a  certain  beneficial  influence  on  me,  but 
that  He  Himself  is  able  to  save  me.  I  cannot 
believe  in  Him  as  Jesus  unless  I  believe  this,  for 
His  very  name  will  otherwise  give  the  lie  to  my 
belief 

This,  then,  is  one  thing  to  believe  in  Him  as  a 
Saviour ;  but  it  is  quite  another,  and  something 
vastly  more,  to  believe  in  Him  unto  salvation,  for 
that  implies  not  only  that  He  is  able  and  willing 
to  save  me,  but  that  He  actually,  and  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  has  saved  me  ;  it  implies  an  experimental 
response  in  my  spiritual  being  to  the  present  influ- 
ence and  power  which  He  is  declared  to  possess  ; 
it  implies  that  in  Jesus  I  have  found  that  salvation 
which  I  so  much  need,  that  my  personal  sin  has 
met  with  its  antidote  in  Him,  that  the  yawning 
chasm  in  my  nature  which  nothing  in  this  life  or 
this  world  can  fill,  though  my  cup  were  to  overflow 
with  sweetness,  has  been  filled  by  Him,  that  the 
dread  of  death  as  an  insuperable  calamity  which 
is  incidental  to  me  as  a  mortal  man  has  at  least 
been  so  far  relieved  and  quieted  that  my  heart  can 
be  glad  and  my  tongue  rejoice,  and  my  flesh  also 
can  rest  in  hope  ;  it  implies,  finally,  that  I  have  in 
myself  the  sure  pledge  and  foretaste  of  eternal  life 


70  AND  IN  JESUS 


and  felicity,  because  the  power  of  His  resurrection 
worketh  mightily  in  me. 

This,  brethren,  is  what  it  is  to  believe  in  Jesus. 
Suffer  me,  in  conclusion,  to  ask  you  two  questions: 
first,  whether  you  have  any  anxiety  like  that  which 
the  jailer's  words  expressed.  What  must  I  do  to  be 
saved?  and,  secondly,  whether,  having  earnestly  asked 
that  question,  you  have  found,  like  him,  to  your 
intense  joy,  the  blessed  truth  of  the  reply,  Believe 
on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved. 


VII. 
CHRIST. 

For  he  mightily  convinced  the  Jews,  and  that  publicly,  showing  by 
the  scriptures  that  Jesus  was  Christ. — Acts  xviii.  28. 

'TPHE  subject  of  the  last  lecture  was  that  portion 
-*-  of  the  Creed  which  is  implied  and  expressed  in 
the  name  of  Jesus  ;  to-day  we  shall  have  to  consider 
the  name  of  Christ  and  all  that  is  involved  in  it. 
Now  it  is  eminently  characteristic  of  Scripture  that 
a  large  amount  of  significance  is  assigned  to  the 
names  of  particular  persons.  We  notice  this  from 
the  very  commencement.  The  name  that  was  given 
to  the  first  woman  was  a  significant  name — a  name 
which  was  designed  to  express  the  character  she 
was  intended  to  fulfil.  The  name  of  Abram  was 
changed  to  Abraham  in  order  that  it  might  express 
his  future  destiny.  It  is  plain  that  in  all  simple 
terms  and  languages  names  must  have  a  meaning, 
but  it  is  commonly  a  meaning  that  has  reference  to 
the  present  or  the  past,  rather  than  the  future.  In 
Scripture  it  is  otherwise;  and  thus  with  the  two 
names  of  our  Lord  one  had  reference  to  the  work 
which  He  came  to  do,  and  the  other  to  the  office 
He  was  destined  to  fulfil.  We  must  carefully 
distinguish  between  these  names.     To  us  they  have 


72  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

very  much  the  character  of  proper  names  or  per- 
sonal appellations.  But  they  are  not  so.  "Jesus" 
was  our  Lord's  proper  and  personal  name.  When 
we  say  that  we  believe  in  Jesus,  we  say  that  we 
believe  in  the  historic  existence  and  reality  of  the 
man  Jesus.  We  say  at  least  so  much  ;  we  say 
indeed,  more  too;  but.  we  undoubtedly  do  say  no 
less.  "Christ,"  on  the  other  hand,  is  not  a  personal 
name,  except  so  far  as  it  has  become  such  by  appro- 
priation. "Christ"  is  nothing  more  than  the  shorter 
form  of  the  Christy  which  is  the  designation  of  a 
particular  office  or  function.  It  was  an  official  not 
a  personal  name.  We  speak  of  Jesus  Christ  because 
we,  being  Christians,  acknowledge  Jesus  to  have 
been  the  Christ;  but  "Christ"  was  no  part  of  His 
name  which  was  assigned  Him  in  its  integrity  by 
the  angel  before  He  was  conceived  in  the  womb. 
It  was  the  object  and  mission  of  Jesus  to  show 
Himself  to  be  the  Christ,  and  this  object  was  not 
accomplished  till  He  had  ascended  tip  on  high  and 
received  gifts  for  men^  yea^  eve7i  for  His  enemies^  that 
the  Lord  God  might  dwell  among  them}  Trinity 
Sunday  is  the  first  Sunday  when  we  are  enabled, 
looking  back  upon  the  completed  office  and  work  of 
Jesus,  to  regard  Him  as  the  Christ.^  In  the  full 
and  complete  survey  which  we  are  enabled  now 
to  take  of  all  t,hat  Jesus  did,. we  can,  if  believers, 
declare  Him    to  have  been  the  Christ;   we  can  call 

'  Ps.  Ixviii.  1 8.  ^  Preached  on  Trinity  Sunday. 


CHRIST.  73 


Him  "Jesus  Christ;"  we  can  say,  "I  believe  in  Jesus 
Christ,"  or,  "  I  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ;" 

And  observe,  there  is  very  much  more  involved  in 
this  than  many  persons  may  at  first  imagine,  and  that 
which  is  involved  is  of  the  very  highest  importance. 
While  God's  purposes  are  in  process  of  fulfilment, 
they  are  in  the  highest  degree  obscure  and  unintel- 
ligible ;  it  is  only  when  we  can  look  back  upon 
them  as  fulfilled,  that  light  breaks  through  and  their 
design  is  revealed.  For  example,  that  which  makes 
our  present  career  so  dark  is  our  inability  to  see  the 
end.  All  things  appear  confused  and  perplexed, 
because  at  present  we  wait  for  the  solution  of  them. 
When  that  is  vouchsafed,  then  everything  will  be- 
come clear  which  is  now  so  puzzling.  And  when  in 
any  case  this  position  is  arrived  at,  then  it  becomes 
absurd  to  doubt  the  reality  of  a  solution  which  has 
thrown  light  on  everything.  Now  apply  this  to  the 
case  of  the  New  Testament.  It  is  absolutely  impos- 
sible to  deny  that  everywhere  in  the  New  Testament 
— in  each  of  the  Gospels,  in  the  Acts,  and  in  all  the 
Epistles — Jesus  is  spoken  of  as  the  Christ,  that  His 
being  the  Christ  was  to  a  large  extent  the  very  issue 
raised  by  the  New  Testament,  that  the  name  by 
which  from  the  first  His  followers  were  known,  and 
by  which  to  the  present  day  for  a  period  of  eighteen 
hundred  years  they  have  continued  to  be  designated, 
is  one  which  involves  the  acceptance  of  this  issue; 
for  they  are  called  Christians,  their  home  is  termed 
Christendom,    and   their   belief  is  known  as  Chris- 


U  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

tianity.  This  implies,  then,  as  a  necessity  that  the 
rise  of  this  society  and  the  spread  of  this  belief  was 
inseparably  connected  with  the  recognition  of  Jesus 
as  the  Christ.  There  could  have  been  no  Christians, 
no  Christendom,  and  no  Christianity,  but  for  the 
impression  having  been  produced  upon  men's  minds 
that  Jesus  was  the  Christ.  If  this  had  not  been  a 
prominent  and  distinguishing  feature  of  the  early  dis- 
ciples, they  would  have  had  no  such  name  assigned 
them.  This  is  quite  apparent — it  is  obvious  and 
irrefutable; 

And,  for  a  reason  which  will  appear  subsequently, 
I  cannot  but  think  that  when  we  are  told  that  the 
disciples  were  called  Christians  first  in  Antioch, 
there  was  a  Divine  provision  in  this,  even  if  a 
Divine  intention  is  not  expressed  in  that  passage  by 
the  remarkable  and,  so  to  say,  oracular  word  which  the 
historian  there  uses  for  called  (%/077/iartcrat).  In  laying 
the  foundations  of  the  Christian  Church  broad  and 
deep,  it  was  part  of  God's  design  that  this  name, 
however  given — whether,  as  some  have  thought,  in 
jest  and  levity,  or  else,  as  others  suggest,  in  Divine 
earnest — should  be  permanently  and  inseparably 
affixed  to  it,  so  that  by  friends  and  foes  alike  the 
name  of  "Christian"  should  be  distinctly  understood, 
and  perfectly  unmistakable  when  applied  to  the 
disciples  of  Jesus. 

For  why }  It  is  absolutely  certain  that  the 
various  centres  of  Christianity  discovered  to  us  in 
the  New  Testament  are  evidence  of  the  extent  to 


CHRIST.  75 


which  this  belief  had  spread,  and  of  the  main 
features  by  which  it  was  characterised.  All  these 
persons,  whatever  their  number,  in  Rome,  in  Corinth, 
in  Galatia,  in  Ephesus,  in  Philippi,  in  Colosse,  in 
Thessalonica,  in  Crete,  in  Jerusalem,  in  Antioch  and 
elsewhere,  believed  in  Jesus  as  the  Christ.  Of  that 
there  can  be  no  shadow  of  doubt,  for  otherwise  they 
would  not  have  been  called  Christians.  And  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  though  many  of  them 
had  been  Jews,  they  were  not  all  Jews  ;  that  various 
nationalities  were  represented  by  them.  But,  in  all 
cases  alike,  the  very  foundation  upon  which  their 
belief  as  Christians  was  built  was  the  conviction 
that  Jesus  was  the  Christ ;  was  the  truth,  that  is, 
with  which  Jesus  fulfilled  the  office  of  the  Christ ; 
was  therefore  the  existence  of  such  an  office  for  Him 
to  fulfil.  Now  observe  this  carefully,  because  it  is 
extremely  important.  You  cannot  account  for  the 
special  phenomena  which  we  know  were  presented 
by  the  early  spread  of  Christianity,  without  acknow- 
ledging that  somehow  or  other — rightly  or  wrongly, 
for  it  matters  not  now — there  was  such  an  impres- 
sion in  men's  minds  of  the  ideal  character  of  a 
Christ, — such  a  belief  in  the  imaginary  functions,  if 
you  will,  of  the  Christ, — as  would  admit  of  the  su- 
perstructure being  reared  thereon,  that  Jesus  was  the 
Christ.  No  man  could  have  become  a  Christian, 
that  is,  who  did  not  believe  in  the  reality  of  that 
particular  function  of  the  Christ  which  Jesus  claimed 
to    discharge.      Somehow  or  other,   then,  wherever 


76  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

Christianity  spread,  and  that  among  the  Gentiles  no 
less  than  the  Jews,  there  must  have  existed  so  much 
preparation  of  the  mental  soil  as  was  implied  in  the 
conception  of  that  office  and  function  of  the  Messiah- 
ship  without  which  the  Christian  confession  and  the 
Christian  name  was  an  impossibility.  That  this 
conception  should  have  existed  among  the  Jews  is 
the  less  remarkable  because  we  know  that  a  belief 
in  the  advent  of  a  Messiah  was  fostered  by  their 
sacred  writings.  It  was  part  of  their  national 
inheritance  that  they  believed  in  the  existence  of 
such  a  person,  and  looked  forward  to  His  coming. 
But  it  is  surely  not  a  little  strange  that  those  Gentiles 
— and  they  were  many  who  became  Christians — 
should  have  passed  through,  as  it  were,  a  preliminary 
phase  of  Judaism  in  becoming  so  ;  and  yet  this  is 
neither  more  nor  less  than  they  must  have  done.  For 
they  must  have  accepted  mentally  the  entire  frame- 
work and  foundation  of  the  Jewish  belief  about  the 
Christ  before  they  could  have  acknowledged  Jesus  as 
the  Christ.  The  one  belief  obviously  involved  and 
implied  the  other. 

It  is  manifest,  therefore,  that  this  widespread 
fundamental  conviction  about  the  person  and  office 
of  the  Christ  could  not  have  existed  but  for  the 
Jewish  Scriptures.  It  was  mainly  and  directly 
attributable  to  them ;  if  it  was  not  actually  and  ex- 
clusively created  by  them,  it  was  at  least  developed 
and  kept  alive  by  them.  And  thus  we  know,  both 
from  the   text  and   many  other  passages,   that   the 


CHRIST.  77 


great  storehouse  of  argument  upon  which  the  early 
preachers  of  Christianity  drew  in  their  discussions 
with  the  Jews,  was  the  Old  Testament  scriptures. 
To  them  they  were  never  weary  of  appealing.  In 
them  they  had  ready  to  their  hand  a  large  amount 
of  material,  which  was  acknowledged  as  of  unques- 
tionable authority  and  of  the  highest  value.  There 
they  found  a  certain  portrait  depicted,  a  certain 
character  delineated,  a  certain  office  described,  a 
certain  hope  excited,  and  promise  given  ;  and  if  in 
every  case  they  could  show  the  correspondence  be- 
tween the  written  ideal  and  the  actual  person  and 
work  of  Jesus,  all  that  they  desired  was  accom- 
plished. The  Jew  was  rationally  persuaded  into 
becoming  a  Christian.  He  had  no  need  to  be  per- 
suaded into  a  belief  in  the  Christ  ;  he  only  had  to 
be  persuaded  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ.  Sometimes 
this  was  done  successfully,  sometimes  the  evidence 
was  resisted,  but  never,  be  it  observed,  on  the 
unsoundness  of  the  premises,  only  upon  the  alleged 
incompleteness  of  the  conclusions. 

We  are  not  fully  informed  as  to  the  process 
adopted  in  the  case  of  the  Gentiles ;  it  seems  pro- 
bable that  the  dissemination  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures 
through  the  Alexandrian  Greek  version  had  been 
the  means  of  infusing  generally  into  men's  minds 
anticipations  of  the  advent  of  some  great  personage, 
so  that  these  anticipations  furnished  a  sufficient  basis 
for  an  appeal  in  favour  of  Jesus  ;  but  if  not,  it  is 
pretty  certain  that  the  early  preachers  would  point 


78  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED, 

to  the  obvious  correspondence  between  the  sacred 
record  and  the  historic  character  of  the  Saviour,  and 
on  that  ground  demand  a  verdict  in  His  favour ; 
and  it  is  perfectly  clear  that  in  a  vast  number  of 
instances  the  appeal  was  not  made  in  vain.  The 
premises  were  invariably  admitted,  because  the  con- 
clusion was  accepted.  We  know,  moreover,  the 
several  passages  that  were  alleged  by  the  early 
preachers  to  refer  to  the  Christ,  and  we  know  yet 
further  that  these  were  the  passages  which  for  a 
thousand  years  after  Christ  were  still  applied  by  the 
Jews  to  their  Messiah.  In  the  face,  therefore,  of  the 
undeniable  results  which  were  brought  about,  and  of 
the  special  conditions  without  which  they  could  not 
have  been  produced,  we  are,  comparatively  speaking, 
independent  of  those  questions  which  have  been 
raised  in  the  present  day  as  to  the  propriety  of  in- 
terpreting the  Old  Testament  as  the  Jews  and  early 
Christians  interpreted  it.  Had  it  not  been  for  this 
interpretation,  the  Christian  Church  could  not  have 
been  founded,  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  was  founded  ; 
therefore,  this  interpretation  was  sufficiently  satis- 
factory in  its  time  to  be  the  direct  and  immediate 
cause  of  a  vast  revolution  in  thought  and  history, 
with  which  no  other  can  bear  comparison.  Even 
if  the  means  employed  are  declared  defective,  that 
cannot  touch  the  reality  of  the  results  produced  ; 
rather,  the  greatness  of  those  results  becomes  the 
more  remarkable  if  the  means  were  feeble  or  inade- 
quate J  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  accomplishment 


CHRIST,  79 


of  the  results  by  the  means  is  no  slight  confirmation 
of  the  adequacy  and  reality  of  the  means  employed. 
When  Apollos  mightily  convinced  the  Jews,  and  that 
publicly y  showing  by  the  Scriptures  that  Jesus  was 
Christ,  the  greatness  and  solidity  of  thd  work  done 
was  sufficient  proof  of  the  soundness  of  the  means 
resorted  to.  The  Scriptures  as  we  have  them, 
being  written  ages  before  Christ  came,  and  corre- 
sponding as  they  do  with  the  life  and  character  of 
Christ,  are  clear  and  unfaltering  in  their  testimony 
to  Him. 

And  it  is  a  testimony  which  nothing  can  ever 
silence.  Wherever  there  is  a  prepared  heart,  the  testi- 
mony will  be  accepted,  and  will  do  its  work  ;  and 
wherever  Jesus  is  believingly  acknowledged  as  the 
Christ,  there  it  will  not  be  possible  to  impugn  the 
testimony  of  the  Scriptures.  The  testimony,  there- 
fore, is  one  which  will  work  in  a  twofold  manner ; 
either  branch  of  it  taken  alone  is  incomplete,  both 
taken  together  are  conclusive.  The  Scriptures  with- 
out Christ  are  unintelligible :  Christ  without  the 
Scriptures  is  an  impossibility.  We  may  seek  to  esti- 
mate the  character  of  Jesus,  but  we  cannot  separate 
it  from  His  claim  to  be  the  Christ ;  we  cannot  recog- 
nise His  claim  to  be  the  Christ  and  yet  demur  to 
the  Divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures. 

And  thus,  brethren,  we  see  what  is  involved  in  that 
name  Christ  which  we  all  confess  in  that  name  Chris- 
tian which  we  all  bear.  It  has  been  designed  in  the 
providence  of  God  that  that  word  Christ  should  con- 


8o  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

tain  in  itself  an  abiding  testimony  to  the  person  of 
His  Son.  To  be  a  Christian  is  now  what  it  was  in 
the  days  when  Corinth  rang  with  the  eloquence  of 
Apollos.  We  cannot  be  Christians  unless  we  ac- 
knowledge Jesus  as  the  Christ ;  we  cannot  acknow- 
ledge Jesus  as  the  Christ  and  not  confess  that  ages 
before  He  came  God  gave  the  promise  of  His  coming, 
and  endued  with  supernatural  light  and  knowledge 
through  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit  those  who 
spake  of  Him.  We  cannot  be  Christians  unless  we 
confess  to  a  Divine  portrait  in  the  Old  Testament 
which  has  been  fully  realised  in  the  New.  These  are 
the  two  halves,  then,  which  being  put  together  make 
up  a  perfect  whole.  When  the  Spirit  of  God  moves 
upon  the  face  of  that  mighty  deep  of  Holy  Scripture, 
then  one  part  answers  to  the  other  part,  as  face  an- 
swers unto  face  in  water.  The  Psalms,  the  Prophets, 
and  the  other  writings  are  full  of  the  coming  Christ, 
if  we  read  them  aright ;  and  the  Gospels  and 
Epistles  tell  us  of  a  Jesus  who  is  the  Christ  come. 

But  what  is  the  import  of  the  name  }  It  is  "  The 
Anointed  One."  He  is  our  anointed  Prophet,  Priest, 
and  King.  Anointed  with  what  ?  With  the  Holy 
Spirit.  To  Him  the  Spirit  was  given  without  mea- 
sure, in  order  that  He  might  be  our  Prophet,  Priest, 
and  King.  Our  Prophet,  because  He  who  stands 
between  us  and  God,  and  comes,  in  the  name  of 
God,  with  a  message  from  Him,  with  the  truth  of 
God  upon  His  lips.  We  cannot  accept  Christ,  then, 
as  our  Prophet  if  we  reject  His  testimony  regarding 


CHRIST,  8i 


Himself,  which  is  clear,  unfaltering,  and  unmistakable. 
He  announced  Himself  as  our  Saviour,  as  our  Judge, 
as  the  Son  of  God,  as  He  who  is  to  heal,  redeem, 
forgive,  and  sanctify  us,  as  He  through  whom  alone 
we  can  come  to  the  Father.     Is  this  our  testimony 
concerning  Him,  as  it  is   His  testimony  concerning 
Himself  .-^       Do   we   gladly  recognise  the   anointing 
which  rests  on    Him  t     Does  He   touch   our  hearts 
with  love,  and  make  us  ready  to  do  that  will  which 
He  proclaims  }    But  He  is  our  Priest,  also  ;  because 
He  has  offered  a  full,  perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice 
for   sin.    He  has  procured  remission    and   bestowed 
it  in  His  blood-shedding.  He  is  consecrated  as  our 
High  Priest  for  evermore ;  by  Him  we  have  boldness 
and  access  with  confidence  by   the   faith   of  Him  ; 
and  accepting   His    priesthood,  we  are  enabled    to 
become  priests  ourselves,  and  to  offer   up   spiritual 
sacrifices  acceptable  to   God  by   Him;    and  having 
boldness    to   enter   into   the    holiness    through    His 
blood  by  a  new  and  living  way  which  He  hath  con- 
secrated for  us  through  the  veil,  that  is  to  say.  His 
flesh,  we  are  able  to  draw  near  with  a  true  heart  in 
full  assurance  of  faith,  having  our  hearts  sprinkled 
from  an  evil  conscience.     And  thus  He  becomes  our 
King,  to  whom  we  owe  allegiance  and  fealty,  who  is 
fairer  than  the  children  of  men,  with  grace  poured  upon 
His  lips,  because  God  hath  blessed  Him  for  ever.    And 
so  being  in  this  threefold  capacity  our  Messiah,  that 
is,  our  Anointed  One,  He  is  able  to  bestow  upon  us 
those  precious  priceless  gifts  with  which  He  is  en- 

6 


82  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

dowed  Himself;  He  is  ordained  and  qualified  to  pour 
out  upon  us  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  blessed, 
sanctifying,  purifying,  strengthening,  hallowing,  con- 
soling grace,  which  can  alone  make  us  one  with 
Him,  as  He  is  one  with  the  Father  in  the  unity  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  The  sole  condition  of  receiving  that 
blessed  endowment  is  the  confession  of  Jesus  as  the 
Christ ;  for  when  we  acknowledge  Him  as  the 
Anointed  One  of  God,  then  the  Spirit  of  God  is 
shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  which 
is  given  to  us,  and  we  are  enabled  to  say  "  Abba, 
Father  "  with  the  voice  of  the  regenerate,  who,  being 
re-created  in  Christ  Jesus,  are  made  partakers  of  His 
sonship,  to  the  glory  of  God  through  Him. 


VIII. 
HIS  ONL  V  SON. 

God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only-begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting 
life.— John  iii.   i6. 

HAVING  endeavoured  to  unfold  the  significance 
of  the  double  name  of  our  blessed  Lord,  we 
must  pass  on  now  to  consider  His  person  and  cha- 
racter more  fully, — what  He  is  in  Himself,  and  the 
relation  in  which  He  stands  to  us.  In  the  simplest 
Christian  Creed  He  is  called  "His  only  Son"  which  in 
the  Nicene  form  is  expanded  into  "the  only-begotten 
Son  of  God,  begotten  of  His  Father  before  all  worlds  ; 
God  of  God,  light  of  light,  very  God  of  very  God ; 
begotten,  not  made,  being  of  one  substance  with  the 
Father,  by  whom  all  things  were  made."  This  latter 
language  has  a  very  much  more  elaborate  cast  about 
it,  and  rings  of  polemical  theology;  but  I  do  not 
know  that  it  is  really  stronger  than  the  other,  or  that 
it  suggests  any  truth  that  the  other  does  not  imply. 
The  one  word  which  is  central  and  essential  in  the 
Nicene  confession  is  that  mysterious  word  preserved 
to  us  by  St.  John  in  the  text — "  only-begotten  ;  "  a 
word  which  is  not  indeed  expressed  in  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  though  it  is  most  undoubtedly  not  rejected. 


84  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

With  regard,  then,  to  this  word  St.  John  gives  us 
to  understand  that  it  was  adopted  by  our  Lord  Him- 
self. It  is  quite  useless  going  into  the  question  of 
showing  this.  If  we  are  not  willing  to  accept  the 
authority  of  St.  John,  we  are  not  much  more  likely 
to  accept  any  other  authority.  For  those  who  desire 
to  be  guided  and  to  abide  by  the  teaching  of  Scripture, 
it  is  enough  to  know  that  this  term  is  four  times  used 
in  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  and  once  in  his  first  Epistle, 
with  reference  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  on  two  occasions 
is  spoken  by  our  Lord  of  Himself  To  dispute  further 
as  to  the  possible  conditions  with  which  it  may  be 
understood,  or  the  possible  limitations  with  which  it 
may  be  used,  is  vain  and  idle  cavilling.  Here  is  a 
most  exalted  epithet  ascribed  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  if 
we  are  staggered  by  it,  we  are  clearly  out  of  harmony 
with  the  teaching  of  the  beloved  disciple  touching  the 
nature  of  his  Master.  But  in  point  of  fact,  though  it 
is  true  this  particular  term  is  peculiar  to  St.  John 
just  as  it  is  peculiar  to  the  Nicene  Creed,  yet  the 
truth  which  it  expresses  is  that  to  which  the  teach- 
ing of  all  the  rest  of  Scripture  leads  up.  It  is  not 
possible  to  examine  carefully  any  one  of  the  Gospels 
and  observe  attentively  what  our  Lord  tells  us  of  Him- 
self, and  not  see  that  the  inference  we  are  intended 
to  draw  is  identical  with  that  which  St.  John  has 
explicitly  commended  to  us.  The  direct  assertions 
of  the  Gospels — not  of  one  Gospel,  but  of  all — 
are  inconsistent  with  the  notion  that  Jesus  Christ 
was  merely  man,  however  high  the  position  we  may 


HIS  ONLY  son;  85 


be  willing  to  assign  Him  in  the  scale  of  humanity. 
These  assertions  are  no  less  inconsistent  with  the 
notion  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  man  but  some 
higher  and  intermediate  kind  of  being  between  God 
and  man,  but  neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  Logi- 
cally, therefore,  the  only  conclusion  at  which  we 
can  arrive  is  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  of  orthodox 
Christendom,  that  He  was  both  God  and  man.  I 
am  sorry  to  have  to  use  this  word  "orthodox,"  but 
it  is  difficult  to  avoid  the  use  of  it.  There  are  those, 
of  course,  to  whom  it  will  mean  nothing  and  to  whom 
it  will  carry  no  weight,  as  of  course  it  will  prove 
nothing ;  but  sooner  or  later  we  shall  find  ourselves 
driven  to  decide  who  and  what  Jesus  Christ  was, 
in  what  sense  He  was  the  Son  of  God,  and  in  what 
sense  He  was  His  only  Son.  It  seems  to  me  there 
are  but  two  courses  open  to  us — we  must  either  deter- 
mine that  He  was  some  intermediate  kind  of  being, 
neither  God  nor  man  ;  or  we  must  acknowledge  that 
He  was  truly  God  and  truly  man.  This,  of  course,  is 
dogmatic  theology  ;  but  how  are  we  to  escape  from 
it }  We  cannot  escape  from  it.  Until  this  dogmatic 
issue  is  decided  there  are  the  most  momentous 
questions  in  abeyance.  For  example,  shall  we  pray 
to  Jesus  Christ  or  not .?  If  we  pray  to  Him  and  He 
is  anything  less  than  God — that  is,  an  intermediate 
being  it  matters  not  how  exalted — then  we  are 
guilty  of  idolatry ;  for  to  pray  to  any  one  who  is  not 
God,  angel  or  archangel  or  mediator,  is  idolatry,^ 
and  can  be  nothing  else  than  idolatry.     If  we  pray  to 


86  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

Him  and  it  is  right  to  do  so,  it  can  only  be  because 
in  one  aspect  of  His  being  He  is  God.  I  say  "  in  one 
aspect  of  His  being  "  because  we^  must  never  forget 
there  is  another.  Jesus  Christ  is  truly  and  com- 
pletely man — in  one  aspect  of  His  being  He  is 
only  man  ;  but  He  is  also  truly  and  completely 
God — in  one  aspect  of  His  being  He  is  only  God. 
And  thus  it  is  that  there  is  room  for  so  many 
statements  about  Jesus  Christ  which  shall  carry  with 
them  the  conviction  that  they  are  true,  and  yet  shall 
seem  to  contradict  other  statements  that  are  true 
likewise.  Neither  by  itself  is  the  whole  truth — both 
are  true  and  go  to  make  up  the  integrity  of  the 
whole  truth. 

Essential,  however,  and  important  as  I  believe  this 
dogmatic  aspect  of  the  matter  to  be,  it  is  itself  but 
one  aspect  of  the  truth,  and  that  an  aspect  on  which 
it  is  not  right  or  healthy  to  dwell  exclusively  or  to 
excess.  Jesus  Christ  has  told  us  something  about 
Himself ;  He  has  told  us  that  He  is  the  only-begotten 
Son  of  God.  If  He  has  told  us  this.  He  must  intend 
and  desire  us  to  believe  it ;  He  cannot  regard  it  other- 
wise than  with  displeasure  if  we  do  not  believe  it ;  but 
still,  after  all.  He  does  not  wish  us  only  to  believe  some- 
thing about  Him — He  wishes  us  to  believe  in  Him.  If 
we  believe  in  something  about  Him  it  is  pretty  clear 
that  we  have  confounded  believing  something  about 
Him  with  believing  ht  Him.  To  believe  in  Him,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  involves  believing  something,  and,  in 
fact,  a  great  deal,  about  Him,  even  all  that  He  has 


HIS  ONLY  SON.  87 


told  US  of  Himself.  In  fact,  I  do  not  see  how  we  can 
in  any  sense  believe  in  Him  and  not  believe  a  great 
deal  about  Him;  but  I  am  sure  we  may  believe  a 
great  deal  about  Him,  may  take  a  delight  in  repeating 
the  strong  expressions  of  the  Nicene  and  Athanasian 
Creeds,  perfectly  accurate  in  themselves,  and  yet  not 
believe  in  Him. 

For  why  }  Belief  expresses  that  attitude  of  the 
mind  which  it  can  hold  only  with  reference  to  the 
Infinite.  It  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  understanding 
or  the  reason,  except  so  far  as  the  sphere  of  its  opera- 
tion includes  them  as  the  greater  includes  the  less; 
but  it  is  distinct  from  them,  and  expresses  the  exercise 
of  a  separate  and  independent  faculty.  If,  then,  this 
is  what  belief  is,  the  position  or  attitude  of  my  mind 
with  reference  to  the  Infinite,  it  is  clear  that  I  cannot 
exercise  belief  in,  or  faith  towards,  Jesus  Christ, 
unless  He  is  Himself  the  Infinite,  or  unless  I  can 
find  in  Him  an  avenue  to  the  Infinite.  Now  this  is 
what  He  has  told  us  over  and  over  again  about 
Himself  implicitly  in  a  thousand  ways  and  explicitly 
when  He  has  taken  into  His  lips  such  a  word  as  this — 
fiovoyevri<;  (only-begotten).  It  is,  therefore,  mere  sub- 
terfuge and  cavilling  when  men  say,  as  they  some- 
times do,  that  St.  John's  language  is  very  different 
from  that  of  the  other  Evangelists,  that  he  claims 
more  for  Jesus  Christ  than  they  do,  that  it  does  not 
appear  from  them  that  Jesus  claimed  to  be  Divine, 
and  the  like,  in  order  to  avoid  what  they  regard  as 
the  objectionable  conclusions  of  theological  language 


88  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 


and  ecclesiastical  tradition  about  our  blessed  Lord. 
The  real  question  is,  Does  He  demand  from  us  alle- 
giance and  fealty  that  we  cannot  give  to  man  ? 
Does  He  assign  to  Himself  positions  and  offices  that 
no  man  can  hold  ?  Does  He  use  language  which 
we  cannot  regard  as  other  than  ambiguous,  if  we 
may  not  be  excused  for  understanding  it  in  the  way 
which  the  express  declarations  of  St.  John  unde- 
niably lead  us  to  understand  it }  And  I  believe 
that  to  these  questions  there  is  and  can  be  but  one 
answer,  if  we  are  honest  with  ourselves,  and  deal 
honestly  with  the  record. 

But  in  order  that  we  may  the  better  see  the 
bearing  of  this  marvellous  and  mysterious  epithet, 
let  us  observe  what  it  is  that  our  Lord  tells  us 
besides  in  the  text.  He  says,  God  so  loved  the 
world  that  He  gave  His  only-begotten  Son^  that  who- 
soever believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish^  but  have 
everlasting  life.  I  do  not  know  how  other  per- 
sons feel,  but  I  can  only  say  for  myself  that,  after 
being  wearied  with  the  conflicting  theories,  argu- 
ments, speculations,  and  doctrines  of  men,  there  is 
the  greatest  possible  relief,  sweetness,  and  repose 
in  the  simple,  childlike  acceptance  of  such  words  as 
these.  Here  is  a  definite,  explicit  statement,  per- 
fectly intelligible  and  easy  to  be  understood, — diffi- 
cult to  mistake  or  to  misunderstand.  Shall  we  accept 
it  in  its  length  and  breadth,  its  simplicity  and  in- 
tegrity, or  shall  we  dispute  about  it  and  reject  it } 

God  so  loved  the  world.      How  was  our  Lord  in 


HIS  ONLY  SON.  89 


a  position  to  make  so  distinct  a  statement  unless 
He  had  been  one  with  the  Father  before  all  worlds 
and  was  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God  ?  Can  we 
trust  the  fulness  of  the  statement  if  it  is  not  au- 
thoritative ?  How  can  it  be  authoritative  if  Christ 
had  not  authority  to  utter  it  ?  How  could  He  have 
authority  to  utter  it  if  He  was  not  what  He  said  He 
was  ?  If  He  was  not  what  He  said  He  was,  is  not 
that  absolutely  fatal  to  the  truth  of  the  statement 
which  He  affirmed  ?  For  this,  you  observe,  is  not 
one  of  those  truths  of  which  the  evidence  lies  in 
my  sense  of  its  being  true.  For  I  may  have  no 
sense  at  all  of  its  being  true.  I  may  be  unable  to 
determine  with  myself  whether  or  not  God  does  love 
the  world.  Sometimes  I  may  fancy  I  can  see  that 
He  does;  at  other  times,  in  the  sight  of  appalling 
calamities  which  are  continually  occurring  when  the 
movement  of  His  little  finger  might  prevent  them,  I 
may  have  serious  doubts,  and  extremely  painful 
doubts,  whether  He  cares  at  all  about  it ;  but  at  all 
events,  there  can  be  nothing  in  me  capable  of  de- 
ciding whether  or  not  God  did  love  the  world  as  it 
is  here  said  He  did,  except  the  acknowledgment  that 
that  love  is  proved  by  the  particular  act  referred 
to,  the  acknowledgment  of  which  act,  on  the  same 
principles,  must  itself  depend  upon  my  sense  of  its 
being  true,  which,  if  adequate  in  my  own  particular 
case,  is  certainly  far  from  being  adequate  in  all  other 
cases.  Certainly  we  can  know  nothing  about  the 
love  of  God  unless  we  have   cause   to  believe  what 


90  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

Jesus  Christ  told  us  about  it,  and  we  can  have  no 
such  cause  unless  He  had  more  ground  for  knowing 
than  that  very  sense  of  truth  in  Himself  which  in  us 
is  shown  to  be  inadequate  to  judge  of  Him.  That 
is  to  say,  unless  He  had  a  definite  and  distinct 
mission,  which  depended  on  something  else  than  His 
conviction  about  it,  we  are  literally  and  actually  none 
the  better  for  all  that  He  has  told  us  about  God, 
because  it  may  after  all  not  be  true,  and  on  these 
principles  can  only  be  proved  to  be  true  by  our  sense 
of  its  truth. 

Then  how  was  this  love  shown  ?  By  God  send- 
ing His  only-begotten  Son.  Then  clearly  He  was 
His  only-begotten  Son  when  He  sent  Him  :  He  did 
not  become  His  only-begotten  Son  by  being  sent, 
for  that  would  be  absurd,  and  a  contradiction  in 
terms.  He  who  was  naturally  the  Son  of  man  would 
thus  become  the  Son  of  God  by  being  made  the  Son  of 
man, — which  is  manifestly  absurd  ;  therefore  He  was 
the  only-begotten  Son  when  given  and  sent.  Ponder 
this,  I  beseech  you,  and  you  will  find  yourselves,  in- 
evitably, in  spite  of  yourselves,  led  upwards,  through 
the  avenue  of  Christ's  humanity,  to  the  boundless 
regions  of  God's  infinity.  Paradoxical  as  the  lan- 
guage is — because  all  finite  language  on  such  mat- 
ters must  be  inadequate — we  are  on  the  confines  of 
the  infinite  when  we  come  into  contact  with  Christ. 

Again,  the  love  of  God,  we  are  told,  was  altogether 
without  reference  to  the  way  in  which  it  would  be 
met.     As  a  matter  of  fact  we  know  how  it  was  met. 


HIS  ONLY  SON.  91 


But  God  loved  that  very  world  which  was  in  dark- 
ness and  misery,  in  sin  and  enmity,  which  required 
Christ  to  be  sent,  and  was  lost  without  Him.  Thus 
we  see  that  in  no  case  was  there  anything  to  move 
this  love.  Had  there  been  desert  in  the  object  of 
the  love  there  would  have  been  no  need  for  the 
manner  Jn  which  it  was  manifested.  In  every  case, 
even  in  that  of  the  beloved  disciple,  the  love  of  God 
preceded  the  love  of  man.  We  love  Him  because 
He  first  loved  us}  And  as  the  love  was  without 
reference  to  the  worthiness  of  the  objects,  so  was  it 
universal  in  its  extent, — it  embraced  the  whole  world, 
for  Christ  was  a  gift  to  the  whole  world.  And  yet 
the  whole  world  did  not  accept  Christ,  but  where  He 
was  accepted  there  the  love  took  effect,  and  evoked 
love  in  return,  the  love  of  which  it  was  worthy. 
Only,  in  saying  that  the  love  took  effect  we  must 
question  our  own  language, — Was  it  accidental  that 
it  took  effect,  or  was  it  intentional  ?  None  of  the 
actions  of  God,  least  of  all  such  actions  as  these,  are 
accidental  ;  it  must  therefore  have  been  intentional. 
Wherever  the  love  took  effect  there  was  the  result  of 
intention  ;  but  intention  on  the  part  of  whom  >  If 
intention  on  our  part,  then  our  intention  had  the 
power  of  controlling  the  exercise  of  God's  love.  Im- 
possible !  Are  we  stronger  than  He  ?^  Or  is  there 
anything,  can  there  be  anything,  in  us  to  make  Him 
love  us  ?  Impossible  again  ;  for  otherwise  it  could 
not  be  true  that  we  love  Him  because  He  first  loved  us. 

^  I  John  iv.  19.  2  J  (^QT^  X.  22. 


92  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

And  here,  verily,  we  approach  a  profound  mys- 
tery— the  operation  and  movement  of  the  love  of 
God  ;  a  mystery  into  which  we  must  not  gaze  too 
intently,  or  we  shall  be  lost  in  perplexity  and  hope- 
less confusion.  God  loves  the  world.  He  loves 
especially  those  of  the  world  who  accept  His  Son. 
Does  He  love  them  because  they  accept  Him,  or  do 
they  accept  Him  because  He  loves  them  }  Certainly 
the  latter ;  but  I  think  we  may  also  say  that  He 
loves  them  because  they  accept  Him,  for  that  is  the 
condition  on  which  He  virtually  promises  that  they 
shall  become  recipients  of  His  further  love.  He 
so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only-begotten 
Sony  that  whosoever  believed  His  love  might  not 
perish — not  believing  the  love  wherewith  he  loved 
him — but  might  have  everlasting  life ;  that  is,  the 
living  reception  in  himself  of  the  Father's  love, 
issuing  in  the  interchange  of  love  towards  God,  and 
of  yet  further  love  of  God  towards  him. 

To  perish,  then,  we  observe,  it  is  only  too  obvious, 
is  to  be  without  love  towards  God,  to  be  without 
any  feeling  of  God's  love  towards  us.  Observe  very 
carefully,  not  any  general  love  towards  us,  but 
the  particular  and  special  love  which  was  declared 
to  be  manifested  in  Christ.  Unless,  then,  we  believe 
that  Jesus  is  the  only-begotten  Son,  it  is  impossible 
that  we  can  feel  God's  love  in  giving  Him,  for  we 
shall  not  believe  in  the  reality  of  the  gift ;  but  our 
Lord  declares  that  in  this  belief  there  consists  the 
possession   of   everlasting    life.      Everlasting  life   is 


HIS  ONLY  SON. 


93 


the  response  in  the  heart  to  the  love  of  God  which 
was  manifested  in  giving  Christ,  which  therefore  is 
contingent  upon  belief  in  the  Christ  given.  I  do  not 
see  how  we  can  escape  from  these  conclusions.  A 
certain  definite  belief  about  Christ  is  involved  in  that 
belief  in  Him  which  is  the  condition  of  eternal  life.  It 
cannot  possibly  be  a  matter  of  indifference  what  our 
particular  personal  opinions  about  Christ  may  be, 
certainly  not  if  we  literally  accept  the  declarations  of 
His  own  language.  He  is  to  be  the  means  through 
which  we  apprehend  the  Infinite.  We  can,  it  is  most 
true,  apprehend  the  Infinite  without  Him,  but  then, 
it  is  only  too  evident  we  shall  not  be  Christians, 
for  to  be  Christians  we  must  apprehend  the  Infinite 
through  Cljirist.  No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father 
but  by  Me}  I  am  quite  aware  that  there  is,  and 
always  has  been,  and  always  must  be,  a  vast  amount 
of  popular  thought  in  direct  defiance  of  this  state- 
ment ;  but  the  question  for  us  to  determine  is, 
whether  the  statement  is  to  correct  our  thought,  or 
whether  our  thought  is  to  modify  or  to  set  aside 
the  statement.  If  God  is  a  Father  in  Christ,  then 
it  is  perfectly  evident  that  He  is  a  Father  in  a 
totally  different  sense  to  any  other ;  and  if  He 
is  a  Father  in  Christ,  then  it  is  plain  that  we  can 
only  appprehend  this  His  fatherhood,  in  which  His 
love  is  infinite,  by  seeking  Him  in  and  through  the 
Son. 

May  it  evermore  be  ours  thus  to  seek  Him,  that 

*  John  xiv.  6. 


94  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

believing  in  Christ  we  may  find  Him  more  and  more 
to  be  the  sweetness  of  Divine  love,  and  the  centre  of 
Divine  life,  and  the  fulness  of  Divine  truth  ;  so  that, 
bowing  our  hearts  and  minds  before  Him  as  the 
only-begotten  Son,  we  may  dwell  with  Him  in  the 
presence  of  the  Father,  and  rejoice  in  the  sunshine 
of  His  light  and  love. 


IX. 

OUR  LORD. 

To  them  that  are  sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus,  called  to  be  saints,  with 
all  that  in  every  place  call  upon  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord, 
both  theirs  and  ours." — i  Cor.  i.  2. 

WE  come  now  to  the  consideration  of  those 
words  in  the  Creed,  familiar  and  of  universal 
occurrence  as  they  are,  which  speak  of  Jesus  Christ 
as  our  Lord.  They  are  actually  employed  by  St. 
Paul  in  this  place,  and  he  couples  with  them  others 
which  may  either  be  taken  as  expanding  them  or  as 
referring  to  the  "  every  place  "  just  before  mentioned. 
That  is  to  say,  his  words  mean,  "Jesus  Christ  is  our 
Lord,  and  theirs  too  as  well  as  ours  ; "  or  else,  "  The 
Epistle  is  addressed  to  all  that  call  upon  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  whether  in  their  country  or 
in  ours."  The  statement  in  the  Creed  really  comes 
to  the  same  thing  whichever  way  we  take  the  literal 
meaning  of  the  words. 

Jesus  Christ  belongs  to  others  as  well  as  ourselves, 
whether  we  are  in  this  place  or  another,  whether  we 
are  in  this  country  or  another,  whether  we  are  in 
this  quarter  of  the  globe  another,  whether  we  are 
in  this  hemisphere  or  another,  whether  we  are  in 
this   world    or    another.     The  great   thought,  then, 

IttttivbesittI 


92  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

which  is  here  brought  before  us  is  our  unity  and 
union  in  Jesus  Christ.  To  us  there  is  but  one  Lord, 
and  because  there  is  but  one  Lord  we  are  one  body 
in  Christ. 

This,  then,  is  a  very  apposite  truth  for  us  to  be 
reminded  of  upon  St.  Peter's  Day,-^  when  we  com- 
memorate the  gifts  and  calling  of  an  apostle  whose 
name  more  than  any  other  has  been  constituted  a 
false  centre  of  unity.  The  true  and  the  only  centre 
of  unity  is  our  Lord, 

Let  us  see,  then,  what  this  implies. 

Jesus  Christ  founded  a  Church.  The  Church  con- 
sisted of  believers  in  Him.  Their  belief  in  Him 
made  them  members  of  His  Church.  Their  being 
members  of  His  Church  did  not  make  them  believers 
in  Him,  for  it  was  only  by  believing  in  Him  that 
they  became  members  of  His  Church.  This  was 
perfectly  true  when  the  whole  area  of  the  Church 
was  confined  to  the  four  or  five  disciples  who  were 
first  called.  And  the  truth  of  it  did  not  alter  when 
the  area  became  of  an  indefinite  extent.  It  is  not 
altered  now.  The  Church  that  Jesus  Christ  is  now 
building  up  is  the  vast  body  of  believers.  Accord- 
ing as  we  belong  to  that  body,  we  belong  to  His 
Church  ;  but  no  formal  or  outward  membership  with 
what  is  called  His  Church  can  constitute  us  members 
of  that  body,  the  only  means  of  entrance  is  the 
moral  act  of  faith. 

For,  let  us  clearly  understand  it,  Jesus  Christ  did 

*  Preached  on  June  29,  1873. 


OUR  LORD. 


97 


not  come  to  form  a  guild  or  corporation  which  was 
to  be  united  by  certain  Masonic  tokens  of  member- 
ship.    Any  one  could  have  done  that ;  I  could  have 
done  it,  you  could  have  done  it,  hundreds  have  done 
it.     Every  city  in  this  empire  has  such  a  guild  or  cor- 
poration.    Jesus  Christ  came  to  do  much  more  than 
this  ;  He  came  to  infuse  into  humanity  a  new,  an 
original,  an  extraneous,  a  peculiar  and  unique  moral 
influence  ;  which  He  did  by  attaching  men  to  Himself, 
by  constituting  Himself  a  new  centre  of  unity.      Be- 
fore He  came  there  existed  various  centres  of  unity. 
A  monarch,  a  lawgiver,  a  statesman,  a  city  or  a  coun- 
try, constituted  such  a  centre,  and  for  a  time  men 
realised  a  certain  unity  in  allegiance  thereto.     When 
Christ  came  He  acted  on  the  same  principle,  but  He 
fulfilled  it  in  a  totally  different  way.      He  made  infi- 
nite faith  in  His  own  person  to  be  the  bond  of  unity. 
It  was    thus  that    Peter  became    one    with    Christ. 
When  he  uttered  his  noble  confession,  Thou  art  the 
Christy  the  Son  of  the  living  God,   he  passed  out  of 
himself  and  his  old    nature,  and    apprehended    the 
new  nature  in  Christ.     Peter  then  became  a  saved 
man,  and  he  continued  a  saved  man  by  continuing 
to  retain  his  hold  on  Christ.     But  he  had  nothing  in 
himself  which  he  found  in  Christ.      He  could  not  be 
to  others  what  he  had  need  for  Christ  to  be  to  him. 
He  could  not  give  to  others  what    he  could    only 
obtain  by  giving  himself  to  Christ.      He  needed  life, 
neither  more  nor  less  than  life,  and  this  he  found 
only  in  Christ,  for  he  said  himself,  Lord,  to  whom 

7 


98  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

shall  we  go  ?  ^  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life. 
That  confession  shows  Peter  destitute — himself  hun- 
gering and  thirsting ;  it  shows  him  likewise  appre- 
hending all  that  he  wanted  in  Christ,  dependent 
upon  Christ  for  it.  And  what  we  see  to  be  true  of 
Peter  is  obviously  true  also  of  the  Church.  The 
Church — that  is,  the  aggregate  of  believers  like 
Peter — is  in  need  like  him,  and  dependent  like  him 
for  the  supply  of  that  life  which  is  only  to  be  found 
in  Christ. 

It  is  sufficiently  clear,  therefore,  that  to  seek  for 
that  in  the  Church  which  the  Church  itself  cannot 
have  except  as  she  finds  it  in  Christ,  must  be  a  fatal 
error.  And  yet  this  is  the  error  which  the  entire 
Church  of  Rome  notoriously  commits,  and  of  which 
multitudes  among  ourselves  are  but  dimly  conscious. 
People  seem  to  think  that  Christ  has  delegated  cer- 
tain functions  and  privileges  to  the  body  of  believers 
which  He  has  bestowed  upon  no  individual  member 
of  the  body  manifestly  and  confessedly,  not  upon 
Peter  himself  But  if  no  one  member  of  the  body 
taken  separately  can  be  conceived  of  having  that  in 
himself  which  he  must  either  go  to  Christ  for  or  else 
not  stand  in  need  of  a  Saviour,  how  is  it  possible 
that  we  can  find  in  a  multitude  that  which  is  seen  to 
exist  in  no  unit  of  the  multitude }  If  every  unit  of 
the  multitude  is  devoid  of  life,  how  can  the  multitude 
itself  possess  Hfe,  or  how  can  we  find  life  in  union 
with  a  multitude  every  member  of  which  stands  as 

'  John  vi.  68. 


OUR  LORD,  99 


much  in  need  of  it  as  we  ourselves  ?  We  can  have 
no  union  with  Christ  by  ourself  having  an  apparent, 
visible  union  with  those  who  belong  to  Him.  We 
can  have  no  union  with  Christ  by  being  i'n  union 
with  Peter,  unless  that  union  with  Peter  is  the  result 
of  union  with  Christ.  Union  with  Peter  may  or 
may  not  lead  to  union  with  Christ.  Unless  it  does, 
it  is  absolutely  worthless  in  itself.  Least  of  all  may 
it  be  substituted  for  union  with  Christ.  As  Peter  is 
not  Christ,  so  neither  can  the  office  of  Peter  be  con- 
founded with  that  of  Christ,  nor  the  office  of  the 
Church  which  Peter  represents.  Christ  proposes 
Himself  as  the  one  centre  of  unity  and  source  of 
life,  and  we  can  invent  no  other. 

This,  however,  is  so  sublime  and  ethereal  a  truth 
that  the  ordinary  mind  cannot  gr^sp  it.  We  want 
successive  chains  and  gradations,  steps  and  links, 
leading  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest ;  we  cannot 
soar  all  at  once  into  the  pure  ether  of  heaven  ;  and 
if  we  do,  we  find  it  difficult  to  breathe  there,  and 
consequently  we  take  refuge  in  the  facile  thougjit 
that  accommodation  must  have  been  provided  for 
the  weak  and  halting  on  their  way  to  Christ.  But 
all  this  is  but  a  confirmation  of  the  great  truths. 
Except  a  man  be  born  again  he  cannot  see  the  kin^- 
dom  of  God;^  and.  The  natural  mafi  receiveth  not  the 
things  of  the  Spirit  of  God^  for  they  are  foolishness 
tmto  him,  neither  ca7i  he  know  them,  becazcse  they 
are  spiritually  discerned.^     We  want  that  very  faculty 

'  John  iii.  3.  *  i  Cor.  ii.  14. 


loo  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

of  sight  which  Christ  alone  can  give,  that  very  gift 
of  life  which  Christ  alone  can  bestow. 

But,  then,  ample  provision  is  made  for  all  that  we 
want  in  Jesus  Christ  Himself ;  He  is  the  sufficient  as 
well  as  the  only  Saviour.  For  example,  the  truth 
that  He  is  our  Lord,  in  which  this  is  implied,  is 
developed  out  of  and  flows  from  the  truth  we  last 
considered,  that  He  is  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God. 
That  truth  enthrones  Him  on  the  summit  of  the  uni- 
verse ;  it  constitutes  Him  supreme  over  all,  God 
blessed  for  ever.  In  that  capacity  He  is  the  exalted 
One  who  is  equal  with  the  highest,  and  is  Lord  of 
all.  But,  then,  from  His  very  exaltation  He  is  un- 
approachable, like  the  sun,  whose  glory  we  behold, 
but  dare  not  gaze  upon. 

Besides  all  this.  He  stands  in  a  relation  to  us — 
He  is  our  Lord  ;  that  is,  the  head  or  lord  of  our 
humanity,  for  this  is  a  title  expressly  relating  to 
our  human  nature ;  He  is  its  natural — or  shall  I  say 
supernatural } — head,  for  in  Him  the  natural  and  the 
supernatural  are  one  and  at  one  ;  they  are  blended 
in  Him  and  reconciled  in  Him.  Mark  that.  We  feel 
and  know  that  He  was  naturally  man,  like  ourselves ; 
He  was  not  a  phantom.  He  was  a  real  man,  eating 
and  drinking,  wearying,  sorrowing,  suffering,  toiling, 
weeping,  bleeding,  dying,  like  ourselves.  But  we 
have  gazed  upon  Him  to  little  purpose  if  we  have 
not  seen  in  Him  something  more  than  all  this,  if  we 
have  not  seen  through  every  action  of  His  natural  life 
the  supernatural  betraying  and  revealing  itself      Is  it 


OUR  LORD.  loi 


possible  that  we  can  gaze  on  Him  and  not  believe  in 
Him  ?  is  it  possible  that  we  can  survey  Him  with 
cold,  critical,  lack-lustre  eyes,  and  calculate  with  super- 
ciHous  indifference  the  probabilities  of  the  claims  He 
put  forward  being  valid, — of  His  being  what  He  said 
He  was  ?  Oh,  surely  not !  And  yet  we  cannot  in  any 
sense  believe  in  him  unless  we  see  and  confess  that 
He  is  the  very  incarnation  of  the  supernatural,  that 
there  is  no  character  in  all  history  at  once  so  natural 
and  yet  so  supernatural  as  His.  Then  assuredly  He 
is  our  Lord,  for  we  can  nowhere  find  any  one  so  truly 
lordly  as  He  is.  He  virtually  had  every  one  at  His 
command  when  on  earth,  whether  it  was  the  money- 
changers whom  He  put  to  flight  in  the  Temple;  or  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  who  brought  to  Him  the  woman 
taken  in  adultery,  but  whom  He  made  to  feel  that 
they  were  none  of  them  without  sin;  or  the  band  of 
men  and  officers  who,  when  they  came  to  apprehend 
Him,  started  backward  and  fell  to  the  ground  at 
the  simple  question.  Whom  seek  ye  t  or  Pilate,  the 
representative  of  Imperial  Rome,  with  her  legions 
and  her  lictors,  when  upon  being  reminded  that  he 
could  have  no  power  at  all  against  Him  except  it 
were  given  him  from  above,  forthwith  sought  to  release 
Him,  notwithstanding  the  clamour  of  the  people. 
On  these  and  a  hundred  other  occasions  He  mani- 
fested the  existence  in  Himself  of  that  fountain  of 
authority  which  compels  an  involuntary  recognition 
and  is  the  inalienable  birthright  of  those  who  are 
born  to  rule.     Who  is   the  more    lordly  character, 


THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 


Christ  suffering  on  the  cross,  with  the  twelve  legions 
of  angels  standing  by  with  their  hands  upon  their 
sword  hilts,  but  bidden  not  to  draw ;  or  Napoleon 
inditing  despatches  on  the  bloody  but  victorious 
field,  with  thousands  of  the  dying  and  the  dead  around 
him,  unheeded  and  uncared  for  ?  The  character  of 
the  lordly  conqueror,  whose  source  of  irresistible 
might  is  his  victorious  sword,  is  nowhere  in  history 
more  conspicuous  than  in  the  great  Napoleon  ;  but  it 
pales  for  grandeur  and  for  dignity,  for  simple  abso- 
lute lordliness,  before  the  character  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  whether  you  behold  Him  at  the  grave  of 
Lazarus  or  see  Him  dying  on  the  cross.  Search 
through  the  annals  of  the  world  and  the  records 
of  many  nations,  and  you  shall  find  nowhere  any 
man  of  whom  you  can  say  so  unhesitatingly,  so 
incontestably,  "  This  man  is  the  first-begotten  of  our 
race,  this  is  our  natural  lord,  this  is  the  rightful  heir 
to  the  throne  of  humanity,  this  is  our  legitimate 
Head  and  King."  For  there  is  no  one  so  truly  man, 
and  there  is  no  one  because  so  truly  man  who  is 
so  undeniably  Divine. 

And  thus  it  is  that  because  of  the  genuine  Lord- 
ship of  Christ  we  all  have  an  equal  right  in  Him.  He 
is  the  natural  and  unique  Head  of  our  race,  the  crown 
of  our  common  humanity  ;  and  therefore,  because  He 
is  our  Lord,  no  one  has  a  greater  share  in  Him  than 
another,  because  that  humanity  of  which  He  is  the 
Head  is  not  a  thing  that  admits  of  degrees,  it  is  the 
common  attribute  of  all,  and  none  can  monopolise  a 


OUR  LORD. 


103 


larger  share  of  it  than  another.  We  do  indeed  say 
that  such  and  such  a  one  is  more  or  less  of  a  man, 
but  this  is  merely  because  he  exhibits  more  or  less  of 
the  ideal  attributes  of  a  man,  not  because  his  human 
nature  differs  from  that  of  others,  because  if  it  did 
it  would  not  be  human.  And,  therefore,  the  queen 
upon  her  throne,  or  the  nobles  in  her  court,  can  have 
no  larger  share  in,  no  nearer  interest  in,  or  access 
to  Christ  our  Lord  than  the  meanest  beggar  in  our 
streets,  or  pauper  in  our  workhouses.  The  only 
difference  of  share  is  that  which  can  be  measured  by 
the  difference  of  faith.  If  you  have  more  faith  in 
Christ,  no  matter  what  your  outward  circumstances 
are  or  inward  state  may  be,  then  you  have  a  larger 
interest  in  Him,  a  larger  share  in  Him  ;  but  not 
otherwise.  And  it  is  because  He  is  thus  our  Lord 
that  we  can  each  go  to  Him  with  our  several  wants, 
with  our  varied  sins,  and  claim  our  share  in  Him  ; 
it  is  here  that  we  can  lay  our  hand  upon  the  unap- 
proachable and  touch  the  inaccessible.  We  want 
no  Church,  no  organised  society,  no  intermediate 
agencies  of  any  kind  to  enable  us  to  do  this ;  the 
more  we  let  the  mind  rest  upon  these  things,  the 
more  likely  we  are  to  let  them  come  between  us  and 
Christ.  The  only  right  we  have  to  go  to  Him,  is  the 
right  of  that  humanity  of  ours  of  which  He  is  the 
Head,  and  the  only  encouragement  we  need,  and 
the  only  claim  we  can  advance  is  the  fact  that  He 
has  called  us  to  come  to  Him.  There  is  one  simple 
solitary   link   which   unites    us    to    Him,    one    only 


I04  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

means  by  which  we  possess  ourselves  of  Him  and 
pass  into  the  actual  personal  enjoyment  of  all  the 
privileges  and  blessings  of  His  humanity  ;  and  that 
is,  faith.  Peter  himself  was  no  nearer  to  Christ, 
was  not  more  truly  one  with  Christ,  than  you  and  I 
may  be  if  we  like  Peter  believe  in  Jesus  ;  and  the 
Church,  of  all  times  and  countries,  was  never,  is  not, 
and  never  can  be  more  near  to  Christ  or  more  truly 
one  with  Him  than  you  and  I  may  be  if  we,  by 
believing  in  Jesus,  pass  into  the  innermost  circle  of 
His  invisible  Church.  Only,  let  us  beware  of  the 
fatal  error  of  interposing  the  Church  between  our- 
selves and  Christ.  The  Church  is  not  a  mediator, 
cannot  become  a  mediator.  The  Church  without 
Christ  is  an  aggregate  of  lifeless  units,  and  the 
Church  with  Christ  is  ,but  an  aggregate  of  the  same 
units,  each  of  which  lives  according  as  it  receives 
life,  not  from  the  Church,  but  from  Christ.  Receiving 
life  from  Christ,  it  becomes  a  living  member  of  the 
Church  ;  but  not  by  being  a  member  of  the  Church, 
howsoever  defined,  does  it  receive  life  from  Christ ;  for 
this  life  is  a  moral  and  not  a  mechanical  gift,  and 
the  Church  has  no  power  to  give  that  which  it  is 
Christ's  alone  to  bestow,  in  virtue  of  His  being  the 
revealed  Head  of  our  humanity. 

Now  sundry  important  truths  are  deduced  like 
corollaries  from  all  this.  First,  as  the  head  is  one 
so  the  body  is  one.  The  unity  is  a  fact;  we  cannot 
bring  it  about,  we  can  only  realise  it.  Men  are 
trying  in  tho  present  day  to  effect  and  bring  about 


OUR  LORD.  105 


a  formal  unity ;  sundry  associations  exist  for  that 
purpose,  which  attempt  upon  this  or  that  basis  of 
general  agreement  and  sympathy  to  create  a  unity. 
The  intention  is  laudable  but  the  principle  is  mis- 
taken. We  cannot  create  unity.  Christ  has  done 
it.  He  has  revealed  Himself  as  the  Centre  of  unity, 
the  solitary  Head  of  our  nature.  We  become  one 
with  each  other  by  becoming  one  with  Him  and 
realising  our  union  with  Him.  If  we  are  built  upon 
Him,  then  we  must  partake  of  His  unity,  whether  or 
not  our  angles  fit  closely  into  the  angles  of  our 
brethren.  That  stone  which  is  built  into  the  one 
foundation  at  the  east,  is  virtually  one  with  those  at 
the  west  and  the  north  and  the  south,  though  they 
are  all  alike  separated  in  position  and  will  never  be 
brought  together.  Diverse  as  their  functions,  their 
forms,  their  positions  may  be,  they  are  one  in  the  unity 
of  the  building ;  which  is  an  essential  unity,  that 
nothing  short  of  total  destruction  can  destroy.  So, 
then,  those  who  believe  in  Christ  are  inevitably  one 
with  each  other,  because  one  in  Him,  though  their 
nations  and  languages,  their  times  and  countries, 
their  modes  of  thought  and  sentiments  may  widely 
differ.  He  Himself  becomes  responsible  for  their 
unity,  which  is  constituted  indestructibly  in  him.  But 
if  they  are  not  personally  united  to  him  no  efforts  of 
theirs  can  create  their  unity. 

Lastly,  the  very  object  and  idea  for  which  we  are 
thus  associated  with  Christ  our  Lord  is  that  we  may 
become  partakers  of  His  holiness.     There  is  indeed 


io6  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

no  true  life  in  Christ  without  a  holiness  correspon- 
dent. This  is  the  family  likeness  by  which  all  the 
children  of  the  King  are  characterised  and  known  ; 
this  is  the  title  of  royalty  by  which  Christ  as  the 
King  of  humanity  will  be  always  acknowledged 
among  men,  because  He  is  declared  to  be  the  Son  of 
God  with  power  according  to  the  spirit  of  holiness. 
Let  us  seek  to  realise  our  union  with  Christ  our 
Lord  by  faith  in  Him,  and  our  union  with  each  other 
by  our  union  with  Him,  and  then  strive  to  exhibit 
to  our  fellow-men  that  likeness  to  our  Master  which 
consists  in  being  holy  as  He  is  holy. 


X. 

WHO    WAS    CONCEIVED  Bl    THE  HOLY 
GHOST. 

The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the 
Highest  shall  overshadow  thee :  therefore  also  that  holy  thing  which 
shall  be  born  of  thee  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God. — Luke  i.  35. 

^  I  ^HIS  is  the  Scriptural  statement  of  that  which 
•^  the  Creed  expresses  in  the  words,  "  Who  was 
conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  born  of  the  Virgin 
Mary."  St.  Luke  tells  us  that  it  was  a  statement 
made  by  the  angel  Gabriel.  If  there  are  such  beings 
as  angels — which  the  materialistic  philosophy  of  th^ 
present  day  may  perhaps  hesitate  to  admit — and  if 
they  have  ever  taken  part  in  the  affairs  of  men,  we 
can  readily  believe  that  they  would  do  so  at  the  birth 
of  Him  who  is  the  Lord  of  angels  and  of  men,  and 
on  such  an  occasion  as  the  one  which  is  here  referred 
to.  It  is,  then,  we  must  at  once  see,  perfectly  hope- 
less to  get  rid  of  the  supernatural  in  dealing  with  the 
life  of  our  blessed  Lord.  Rather,  He  is  Himself  our 
escape  from  the  perplexities  attending  the  definition 
of  the  natural  and  the  supernatural,  by  combining  in 
Himself  the  characteristics  of  both.  In  Him  we  see 
the  two,  not  in  collision,  but  in,  so  to  say,  natural 
harmony.     If  our  Lord's  birth  was  after  the  manner 


io8  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

of  men,  destruction  is  laid  at  the  root  of  all  that  He 
ever  did  and  said ;  if  it  was  not,  the  door  is  forthwith 
opened  to  the  admission  of  the  supernatural,  which 
prepares  us  for  its  presence  elsewhere,  and  we  may- 
then  thankfully  confess  that  we  have  known  the 
incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God  by  the  message  of 
an  angel.  It  is  no  doubt  perfectly  true  that  nearly 
every  one  in  our  assemblies  may  reverently  and  de- 
voutly hold  the  Christian  faith  on  this  and  similar 
points,  and  never  care  to  contemplate  the  alterna- 
tive ;  but  forasmuch  as  we  know  there  are  at  times, 
at  any  rate,  those  present  in  them  with  whom  it  is 
otherwise,  and  because  it  is  not  seldom  laid  as  a  re- 
proach against  us  clergymen  that  we  go  along  in  the 
rut  and  take  a  one-sided  view  of  things,  it  may  be 
as  well  to  show  that  we  can  contemplate  the  position 
of  faith  and  no-faith^  and  that  we  are  not  blind  to 
the  difficulties  to  which  faith  exposes  us,  and  from 
which  it  can  leave  no  one  free. 

Now  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ  introduced  into 
the  family  of  man  a  new  and  a  divine  principle. 
This  is  too  much  lost  sight  of.  The  philosopher 
estimates  Jesus  Christ  by  what  He  did.  Philo- 
sophy takes  the  measure  of  Him  according  to  the 
wisdom  of  His  recorded  teaching  and  the  great- 
ness of  the  movement  which  He  originated.  But 
Holy  Scripture  attaches  an  importance  to  tv/o  per- 
fectly natural  incidents  in  our  Lord's  career,  which 
in  fact  the  Creed  places  in  juxtaposition,  of  which 
philosophy  takes  no  account;  and  these  are,  His  birth 


WHO  WAS  CONCEIVED  BY  THE  HOLY  GHOST.    109 


and  His  death.  As  Christians,  we  are  bound  to 
believe  that  the  mere  fact  of  our  Lord's  birth  was,  in 
some  sense  at  least,  the  salvation  of  man, — not  as 
containing  in  itself  the  pledge  and  promise  of  the 
life  which  was  to  follow,  with  all  its  saving  conse- 
quences, but  as  being  by  its  own  virtue  the  commence- 
ment of  salvation.  And  what  do  I  mean  by  this?  I 
mean  that  which  I  shall  try  to  work  out  in  the  pre- 
sent lecture.  The  Scriptural  account  of  our  physiolo- 
gical and  ethnological  constitution  is  that  all  nations 
of  men  are  made  of  one  blood.  Science  has  not,  at 
present,  disproved  that,  nor  is  it  likely  to  disprove  it, 
for  even  allowing — which  is  the  utmost  that  science 
can  ask  us  to  allow — that  the  human  race  instead  of 
springing  from  one  centre  sprang  from  many,  what 
have  we  granted  then .''  Certainly  not  that  the  human 
race  of  which  we  speak  and  cannot  help  speaking 
as  one  is  after  all  not  one.  Does  any  one  doubt 
that  any  two  units  of  this  nation,  taken  where  you 
please,  of  the  best  blood  and  the  basest,  are  not 
essentially  one  now,  though  it  is  impossible  to  con- 
ceive the  actual  case  in  which  the  blood  of  both 
flowed  in  the  veins  of  the  same  individual  man.  Is 
not  this  unity  something  altogether  independent  of 
the  real  genealogical  origin  .?  So  that  it  was  not 
virtually  greater  at  the  distance  of  two  generations 
from  the  actual  common  origin  than  at  the  distance 
of  five  hundred,  that  it  will  not  be  less  in  the  descen- 
dants of  both  a  thousand  years  hence  than  it  is  at 
the    present   moment.     It  is  something  more  than 


no  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

community  of  descent  to  which  we  owe  our  common 
humanity.  Our  great  poet  teaches  us  this  when 
he  says,  "  Hath  not  a  Jew  eyes,  hath  not  a  Jew 
hands,  organs,  dimensions,  senses,  affections,  passions, 
fed  with  the  same  food,  hurt  with  the  same  weapons, 
subject  to  the  same  diseases,  healed  by  the  same 
means,  warmed  and  cooled  by  the  same  winter  and 
summer,  as  a  Christian  is?"  Our  common  humanity 
consists,  not  in  the  continuity  of  origin,  proved  or 
disproved,  but  in  the  continuity  of  all  which  makes 
up  man  ;  and  this  we  share  with  the  Maori  and  the 
Hottentot  as  much  as  we  do  with  the  Saxon  and 
the  Celt.  The  blood  which  flows  in  the  veins  of 
all,  whether  or  not  it  was  originally  one,  is  after  all 
human  blood,  can  be  physically  identified  as  human 
blood,  and  is  so  far  an  evidence  of  union,  whether 
or  not  it  is  historically  the  basis  of  unity.  And  of 
this  blood  the  commonest  and  the  most  universal 
characteristic  is  its  transmission  from  sire  to  son. 
Science  has  given  us  no  instance,  professes  not  to  give 
us  any  instance,  disdains  to  give  us  any  instance,  in 
which  this  transmission  has  been  broken.  Revelation, 
historical  revelation,  has  given  us  one  instance,  and 
only  one.  So  that  even  granting  that  the  theory  of 
evolution  held  good  as  regards  the  historic  origin  of 
man,  revelation,  historic  revelation,  would  propose 
to  our  faith  one  solitary  instance  in  which  the  links 
of  evolution  were  sundered,  and  that  instance  the 
person  and  the  birth  of  Christ. 

Now  this  is  proposed  to  our  faith ;  it  is  utterly  and 


WHO  WAS  CONCEIVED  BY  THE  HOLY  GHOST,    in 

hopelessly  beyond  the  reach  of  reason  alike  to  prove 
and  to  comprehend  it.  But  yet,  at  the  same  time, 
no  one  can  say  that  it  is  unreasonable;  on  the  other 
hand,  it  appeals  in  the  highest  degree  to  reason  by 
the  very  magnitude  of  the  results  which,  if  true, 
it  would  accomplish.  For  then  you  would  have 
introduced  into  humanity — what  we  cannot  but 
acknowledge  is  our  common  humanity — an  entirely 
new  element  which  had  never  been  imparted  before  ; 
you  would  have  communicated  not  only  the  human 
but  the  Divine  element. 

And  now  see  the  necessity  for  this.  There  is  some- 
thing common  to  us  besides  blood,  and  something 
for  which  evolution  cannot  account  whether  or  not 
it  accounts  for  community  of  blood,  and  something 
which  is  strangely  connected  with  this  community  of 
blood,  something  which,  if  not  seated  in  the  blood, 
is  mysteriously  associated  therewith.  For  example, 
we  know  that  the  blood  is  the  seat  of  life,  that,  in  the 
words  of  Scripture,  the  life  is  the  blood ;^  and  in  the 
life  is  bound  up  the  very  germ  of  personality,  so  far 
as  our  personality  is  dependent  on  and  expressed  by 
our  living,  sentient  humanity  ;  so  that  all  the  mar- 
vellous complexities  of  the  will,  and  the  reason,  and 
the  affections  are  wrapped  up  in  that  word  "  life," 
which  is  intimately  and  inseparably  associated  with 
that  word  "blood,"  so  that  if  you  shed  the  blood 
you  shed  the  life, — you  dissolve  the  connexion  with 
humanity  of  the  will,  and  the  reason,  and  the  affec- 

*  Gen.  X.  4;  Lev.  xvii.  ii. 


112  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

tions,  because  you  dissolve  the  integrity  of  th^ 
man.  What  is  there,  then,  which  is  generally, 
universally  associated  with  us  all  in  this  life,  and 
therefore  in  this  blood,  which  is  common  to  us  all  ? 
It  is,  in  one  word,  sin.  Sin  pervades  our  life,  is 
seated  in  our  blood.  None  will  deny  that  sin  per- 
vades our  life,  or,  if  any  deny  it,  sin  itself  will  testify 
against  them.  But,  more  than  this,  sin  infects  our 
nature  ;  it  corrupts  and  taints  our  very  blood.  We 
cannot  wash  our  hands  clean  from  sin,  as  Pilate 
sought  in  vain  to  do.  No  moral  lustrations  will 
purify  us  from  sin.  Fasting  will  not  eradicate  it- 
Penance  will  not  destroy  the  tendency  thereto. 
Prayers  and  sacraments  will  not  abolish  the  natural 
proclivity.  Confession,  which  some  imagine  to  be 
a  panacea,  will  but  develop  it.  We  cannot  get  rid 
of  it,  because  we  possess  a  sinful  nature  ;  and  the 
nature  which  I  have  my  father  had  before  me, 
my  son  will  have  after  me,  and  so  on  even  to  the 
years  of  countless  generations.  We  do  not  say  that 
the  nature  develops  itself,  that  it  progresses  or 
recedes, — we  do  not  undertake  to  pronounce  upon 
that  ;  but  we  say,  and  we  appeal  to  the  testimony 
of  facts,  that  the  nature  has  been,  and  is,  and  will 
remain,  essentially  sinful  and  corrupt,  that  the  sin  is 
rooted  in  the  will,  which  is  immediately  connected 
with  the  life,  which  is  intimately  associated  with  the 
blood.  And  it  is  obvious  that  if  this  nature  is  the 
nature  of  all, — for  though  many  may  differ  in  the 
degrees  of  sin,  yet  there  is  none  who  is  not  sinful, — 


IVHO  WAS  CONCEIVED  BY  THE  HOLY  GHOST.    113 

then  no  one  who  shares  the  nature  can  redeem  or 
deliver  or  purify  the  nature  which  he  shares.  He  is  in- 
competent to  redeem  himself,  and  how  can  he  redeem 
his  brother  ?  I  use  the  word  "redeem"  in  no  technical 
sense,  but  simply  as  expressing  that  riddance  of  the 
nature  from  sin  which  the  sinful  nature  is  obviously 
incompetent  to  effect.  But  given  the  admission  into 
our  nature  of  a  new  element,  given  the  admixture 
with  our  blood  of  a  sinless  because  a  Divine  prin- 
ciple, and  you  have,  at  any  rate,  a  conceivable 
passage  opened  out  for  the  deliverance  of  the  nature 
from  sin.  For  in  one  particular  case  the  entail  of 
sin  is  cut  off,  the  connecting  links  are  sundered. 
Here  isolation  is  at  last  effected.  At  this  point  sin 
could  not  enter,  did  not  enter  into  our  nature. 
Man  felt  that  if  he  could  only  begin  afresh  much 
might  be  done  towards  redemption  ;  but  he  never 
could  achieve  this  beginning — the  power  of  old  asso- 
ciation was  too  mighty.  This  has  been  felt  and 
exemplified  time  after  time  in  the  individual,  and  it 
was  virtually  the  consciousness  of  the  race.  But  One 
was  revealed  to  us  who  had  another  consciousness, 
and  in  whom  every  individual  could  find  his  own 
consciousness  renewed  and  regenerated ;  and  this  was 
He  whose  birth  was  announced  by  the  angel  Gabriel, 
even  He  who  was  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  bom  of  the  Virgin  Mary. 

Thus  far,  then,  you  see  that  the  Christian  faith 
proposes  to  our  apprehension  a  distinct  and  definite 
fact  which  took  place  in  human  history,  namely,  the 

8 


114  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

communication  to  the  race  of  a  new  element  or  prin- 
ciple, in  the  person  of  Christ,  who  should  henceforth 
be  the  unit  of  attraction,  cohesion,  centralisation,  the 
foundation  of  a  new  society,  the  head  of  a  new  family. 
Not,  however,  as  heretofore,  to  be  perpetuated  by  the 
ever-recurring  relation  of  sire  and  son,  but  by  the  ever- 
recurring  repetition  of  the  moral  act  of  regeneration, 
through  contact  by  faith  with  the  sinless  person  of  the 
Son  of  Man.  It  is  in  the  highest  degree  essential  to 
understand  this.  If  we  have  not  a  sinless  Christ  to 
believe  in,  we  have  no  one  to  believe  in.  If  we  have 
not  a  Christ  to  believe  in,  in  whom  there  was  not 
the  taint  of  a  sinful  nature,  then  the  death-blow  is 
struck  at  all  our  hopes.  There  was  in  Him  perfect 
humanity,  but  humanity  sinless  because  perfect, 
humanity  that  was  in  its  origin  without  the  taint  of 
sin,  and  which  in  its  immediate  contact  with  sin  had 
asserted  and  proved  its  freedom  from  it  and  power 
over  it. 

But  then  the  great  question  arises.  How  do  we 
become  partakers  of  this  humanity  }  how  can  it  be 
communicated  to  us  and  become  ours  ?  In  answer 
to  this  question  two  theories  have  been  advanced, 
which  should  be  clearly  distinguished.  The  one 
theory  is  this,  that  the  sacraments  ordained  by 
Christ  were  ordained  by  Him  for  the  purpose  of 
communicating  and  extending  the  effects  of  His 
participation  in  our  nature  ;  that  so  the  baptised 
man  is  metaphorically  grafted  into  the  body  of 
Christ,  and  in   the  Holy  Eucharist  partakes  of  that 


WHO  WAS,  CONCEIVED  BY  THE  HOLY  GHOST.    115 

Spiritual  body  into  which  he  was  in  baptism  grafted  ; 
that  thus  there  is,  through  the  sacraments,  a  direct 
communication  of  the  renewed  nature  of  Christ. 
The  objection  to  this  theory  is  that  in  it  metaphor 
appears  to  be  substituted  for  reality.  In  baptism 
there  is  nothing  that  answers  to  the  metaphor  graft- 
ing, unless  it  be  spiritual  union,  and  in  the  Eucharist 
there  is  nothing  that  answers  to  participation  unless 
it  be  spiritual  communication.  But  we  cannot  have 
spiritual  communication  except  by  spiritual  means. 
Now  the  water  and  the  bread  and  the  wine,  whatever 
else  they  are,  certainly  are  not  spirit,  even  though 
they  be  the  channels,  or  the  tokens,  of  spiritual  com- 
munication. We  have  the  highest  authority  for 
saying  that  it  is  the  spirit  that  quickeneth  ;  the  flesh — ■ 
that  is,  all  that  is  short  of  or  other  than  the  spirit — 
profiteth  nothing}  And  I  think  we  must  acknow- 
ledge that  it  is  alien  to  the  entire  teaching  of  Christ 
to  understand  that  to  be  done  by  a  succession  of 
sensible  means,  by  the  setting  in  motion  of  a  visible 
machinery  which  must  after  all  in  its  method  of  oper- 
ation and  its  effects  be  of  the  nature  of  a  moral  influ- 
ence. And  therefore  we  are  bound  to  say  that  even 
admitting  this  theory  to  be  defensible — and  it  depends 
for  its  truth  rather  upon  subtlety  of  argument,  and 
upon  a  particular  interpretation  of  the  word  "  spirit- 
ual," which  appears  to  assign  it  an  intermediate  posi- 
tion, between  the  moral  and  material,  that  namely  of 
an  inappreciable  tertittm  quid,  than  upon  the  simplicity 

*  John  vi.  63. 


Ii6  THE    CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

of  scriptural  demonstration;  but  accepting  it  as  theo- 
retically correct,  it  must  certainly  derive  all  its  real 
virtue  from  the  other  theory,  which,  in  professing  to 
supplement,  it  too  often  supplants.  And  this  theory 
is  very  simple  ;  no  less  simple  than  the  direct  state- 
ments of  Scripture  itself,  namely  that  we  become 
partakers  of  the  benefits  of  Christ's  humanity,  and 
the  virtue  of  that  humanity  is  actually  communicated 
to  us,  by  faith  in  Him. 

Now  as  it  is  admitted  on  all  hands  that  the 
sacraments  without  faith  are  ineffectual,  we  can 
only  say  that  that  which  alone  can  give  efficacy  to 
the  sacraments  must  be  more  potent  as  a  means 
than  they.  The  man  who  communicates  without 
faith,  communicates  to  no  purpose — he  does  not 
become  a  partaker  of  Christ's  humanity.  Throw 
into  his  communion  the  indispensable  element  of 
faith,  and  he  becomes  a  partaker  of  Christ  by  faith, 
not  by  his  participation  in  the  visible  elements  which 
are  intended  to  assure  him  of  that  union  which  he 
already  enjoys  through  faith.  Believe  me,  brethren, 
that  so  far  from  deprecating  the  sacraments  by 
any  such  notions,  we  cannot  truly  appreciate  them 
till  we  become  experimentally  acquainted  with  what 
is  implied  by  communion  with  Christ  by  faith.  We 
enter  into  direct  personal  union  with  the  Sinless 
One,  into  actual  participation  in  the  blessings  of  His 
renewed  humanity,  and  into  conscious  oneness  with 
Him,  when  by  faith  we  can  say,  "Thou,  Lord,  art 
mine."     If  we  can  come  to  Him  and  say,  "  There  is, 


WHO  WAS  CONCEIVED  BY  THE  HOLY  GHOST.    117 

Lord,  nothing  in  me  but  sin,  and  death  the  wages 
of  sin  :  I  come  to  Thee  to  be  rid  of  sin,  and  to  have 
Hfe,  even  abundant  and  eternal  life  in  Thee.  Thou 
art  my  perfected  and  restored  humanity,  for  Thou  art 
that  Son  of  Man,  who  is  the  Son  of  God.  In  Thee  I 
find  that  which  I  can  find  nowhere  else,  least  of  all  in 
myself.  In  Thee  there  is  righteousness  and  peace 
and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  in  Thee  I  am  one  with 
the  Father,  even  as  Thou  in  Thyself  hast  made  the 
Father  one  with  me,"  then  we  shall  find,  as  thousands 
have  found  before  us,  that  our  faith  hath  made  us 
whole.  This  will  be  our  blessing  and  our  reward  ; 
we  shall  know  that  we  do  indeed  live  because  He 
lives  and  we  are  partakers  of  His  life. 

But  this  mighty  change  is  a  moral  and  not  a 
mechanical  change  ;  it  cannot  be  brought  about  by 
participation  in  any  ordinances,  by  clinging  to  any 
means  which  come  between  us  and  the  end  they 
signify;  it  is  a  change  that  can  alone  be  produced, 
as  the  first  entrance  of  the  Divine  element  into 
our  corrupt  human  nature  was  effected,  by  the  over- 
shadowing of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Spirit  alone  can 
act  on  spirit.  The  only  way  in  which  prayers,  or 
communions,  or  anything  else  can  be  made  effectual 
to  our  salvation  is  by  our  being  united  to  the  Saviour^ 
which  union  is  effected  by  the  Holy  Ghost  through 
faith.  The  person  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  depositary 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  if  we  may  so  say;  through  union 
with  Christ  we  have  union  with  the  Spirit,  and 
through  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit  we  have  union 


ii8  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

with  Christ.  There  is  an  appearance  here  of  circular 
motion,  but  it  is  of  a  kind  analogous  to  that  by  which 
the  earth  moves  round  the  sun.  Jesus  Christ  is 
our  Sun  of  Righteousness ;  and  if  we  believe  in  Him 
and  give  ourselves  to  Him  for  life  or  for  death,  and 
serve  Him  in  truth,  we  shall  find  the  harmony  of 
all  the  varied  and  opposite  points  upon  the  circum- 
ference in  the  unity  of  the  centre,  and  in  our  union 
therewith. 


XL 

SUFFERED  UNDER  PONTIUS  PILATE. 
Pilate  therefore  took  Jesus,  and  scourged  Him. — ^John  xix.  i. 

'TT^HE  ancient  confession  of  faith  known  as  the 
-^  Apostles'  Creed  has  this  advantage  over  every 
formula  of  a  similar  kind, — that  it  is  a  summary  of 
facts  and  not  of  doctrines.  There  is  little  or  no- 
thing in  it,  strictly  speaking,  of  a  dogmatic  character. 
It  is  for  the  most  part  a  simple  record  of  historic 
events.  And  more  particularly  is  this  the  case  with 
what  it  affirms  of  our  Lord  Himself.  We  are  not 
taught  some  special  theological  tenets  about  Him, 
but  merely  the  bare  incidents  of  His  human  life. 
No  doubt  in  many  quarters  this  is  regarded  as  a 
great  defect  in  the  Creed.  For  myself,  I  believe  it 
to  be  the  highest  merit,  and  the  principal  cause  that 
the  Creed  has  lasted  for  so  long  a  time.  It  would 
long  ago  have  passed  away  had  it  not  been  for  the 
wisdom  and  tenacity  with  which  it  had  seized  upon 
the  more  prominent  facts  of  our  Lord's  existence, 
and  presented  them  as  the  all-important  matters  of 
belief. 

And  thus,  for  instance,  after  having,  in  no  ambiguous 
terms,  stated  the  Christian  conviction  as  to  who  Jesus 


MO  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

Christ  was,  it  proceeds  immediately  to  say  that  He 
suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate.  It  is  this  brief  but 
pregnant  truth  that  we  are  to  consider  to-day.  You 
must  observe,  therefore,  that  the  Creed  does  not  tell  us 
why  our  Lord  suffered;  it  presents  no  theory  for  our 
acceptance  to  explain  the  necessity  of  His  suffering ; 
it  propounds  no  scheme  setting  forth  the  conse- 
quences, actual  or  supposed,  of  His  having  suffered, 
— it  is  content  merely  to  enunciate  the  cold,  frigid, 
jejune  and  barren  fact  that  He  did  suffer.  Many 
probably  would  have  wished  it  had  been  more 
explicit.     But  so  it  is. 

You  will,  however,  upon  a  moment's  consideration, 
at  once  see  that  whatever  may  have  been  the  reasons 
for  our  Lord's  suffering,  or  the  consequences  of  His 
having  suffered,  all  these  must  gather  round  and 
centre  in  the  fact  itself  that  He  suffered.  Let  the 
reasons  be  never  so  valid  which  made  it  needful  for 
Him  to  suffer,  these  would  all  come  to  nothing  if  the 
suffering  was  unreal  or  unhistoric.  Let  the  conse- 
quences which  were  supposed  to  follow  be  what  they 
might,  these  also  would  fade  away  completely  if  the 
act  or  event  of  suffering  had  not  happened.  And^ 
therefore  on  every  ground  the  truth  to  be  set  in  the 
foremost  place  was  not  some  theory  about  the  suffer- 
ing, but  the  fact  itself  that  suffering  was  undergone. 

Pilate  therefore  took  Jesus  and  scourged  Him. 
That  was  an  incident  in  our  Lord's  suffering, — 
which  suffering,  be  it  remembered,  the  Creed  distin- 
^^uishes  from  the  crucifixion  which  followed.     Let  us 


SUFFERED   UNDER  PONTIUS  PILATE.  J2I 

try,  then,  to  concentrate  our  minds  upon  this  one 
point — ^Jesus  Christ  suffered :  He  suffered  under 
Pontius  Pilate. 

It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  all  the  sweetness 
which  is  associated  in  our  Lord's  name  is  centred,  not 
in  the  divinity  which  was  veiled  in  human  flesh,  not 
in  the  majesty  which  He  ascended  into  the  heavens 
to  share,  not  in  the  throne  which  He  forsook  in 
order  that  He  might  resume  it,  not  in  the  miracles  of 
power  which  He  wrought  when  on  earth,  but  in  this 
single  fact  that  He  suffered.  And  it  is  no  less  true 
that  the  sufferings  of  other  men,  though  they  may 
elicit  our  sympathy  and  call  forth  our  compassion, 
are  yet  not  regarded  in  themselves  as  elements  of 
attractiveness.  People  who  are  continually  obtrud- 
ing their  own  misfortunes  or  sufferings,  are  certainly 
not  those  who  are  most  eagerly  sought  after.  The 
world  at  large  shrinks  from  contact  with  adversity, 
and  finds  no  sweetness  in  sorrow.  But  it  is  quite 
otherwise  with  the  sufferings  of  Jesus  Christ.  There 
is  in  them  an  undefinable  element  of  attractiveness 
and  sweetness — so  marvellously  true  are  His  own 
marvellous  words,  Andl^  if  I  be  lifted  up  ^  will  draw  all 
men  unto  me}  Though  there  may  be  many  who  pass 
the  suffering  Jesus  by  unheeded,  yet  where  He  is 
cared  for,  there  it  is  the  sufferings  He  endured  for 
which  men  care. 

There    are    certain    characters    in    history   which 
claim    our    affection    because    of   their    misfortunes. 

*  John  xii.  32. 


122  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

For  example,  I  suppose  most  persons  in  the  present 
day,  whatever  may  be  their  political  bias,  feel  a  cer- 
tain degree  of   affection  for  Charles  I.,  when  they 
regard  him  on  the  side  of  his  suffering  rather  than  his 
policy.     "Pity  melts  the  mind  to  love,"  and  the  human 
heart,  when  mindful  of  its  own  liability  to  sorrow,  is 
apt  to  be  drawn  out  in  sympathy  towards  those  who 
suffer,  and  to  feel  a  tenderness  for  the   unfortunate 
which   is  not  felt  for  others  ;  and  yet  in  all  these 
cases  it  is  not  the  sorrows  but  the  sorrowful  that 
we  feel  for.     We   love  the  sufferers  on  account  of 
their  sorrows ;  the  mere  contemiplation  of  the  suffer- 
ing itself  gives  no  pleasure.     Now  it  is  quite  other- 
wise with  Jesus,  and  the  sufferings  of   Jesus.     For 
example,  we  dare  not  say  that  we  are  moved  with 
compassion  for    our   blessed    Lord.      We   dare   not 
presume  to  approach   Him  with   anything  like  the 
sentiment    of    pity.       In    His   human    lifetime    we 
never  find  Him  asking  for  anything  like  sympathy, 
and    certainly   His    historical    character    is    one    to 
which  we  cannot  venture    to  offer    the    tribute    of 
condolence.     It  is  so  sublime  that  it  says  to  us.  Draw 
not  nigh  hither :  put  off  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feety 
for  the  place  wliereon  thou  standest  is  holy  ground. 
And  yet,  withal.  His   sufferings  have  an   attractive- 
ness in  themselves.     They  never  repel  us  ;  they  never 
produce    in    the    mind    anything  which  answers  to 
satiety.     We  may  turn  away  from  them    we    may 
come  like  the  Levite  and  look  at  them  and  pass  by 
on  the  other  side,  but  the  more  we  contemplate  them 


SUFFERED   UNDER  PONTIUS  PILATE.  123 

the  more  they  fill  our  mind  with  sweetness.     It  is 
undeniable  that  in  this  respect  the  sorrows  of  Jesus 
differ  from  those  of  all  others,  as  does  the  effect  also 
which  the  contemplation  of  them  produces  on  the 
mind.     In    the  history  of   the   human    sensibilities 
the    sufferings  of   Jesus    Christ    have    produced    an 
entirely  new  and  original  phenomenon,  which  has  no 
parallel  elsewhere.     And  when  we  attempt  to  analyse 
this  sentiment,  or  enquire  into  its    nature  and    its 
meaning,  we  find  that  it  arises  not  on  account  of  the 
person  who  endured  the  sufferings,  but  on  their  rela- 
tion to  ourselves.     We  feel  that  we  cannot  approach 
Jesus  Christ  with  anything  like  condolence,  partly 
because  He  does  not  stand  in  need  of  our  pity,  and 
partly  because  of  His  intense  exaltation  of  character. 
At    the    time    when    the    beloved    sovereign    of 
this  nation  was    smitten  with    that    terrible    stroke 
which  left  her  desolate  and  a  widow,  it  was  often 
remarked    that   there  was  an  element   in  her  grief 
which  was  lacking  in  that  of  all  others,  who  might 
be  smitten    as    she  was,  in   that    the   eminence    of 
her    position    left    her    in    unapproachable  solitude. 
Where  could  the  friend  be  found,  who,  as  an  equal, 
could  draw  near  with  the  message  of  consolation  .? 
If  this  was  in  any  degree  true  of   her,  how  much 
more  true  must  it  be  of  Jesus.     And,  yet  again,  here 
also  was  the  strongest  possible  contrast,  because  she 
was  in  sore    need  of   sympathy,  but  was  debarred 
from  the  access  of  it  in  consequence  of  her  exalted 
rank  ;  whereas  He,  although  pre-eminent  in  suffering^ 


124  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

no  less  than  in  exaltation,  had,  strictly  speaking,  no 
need  of  that  which  His  creatures  were  utterly  unable 
to  bestow,  while  at  the  same  time  He  was  literally 
in  the  very  extremest  need.  And  thus,  we  are  told 
that  while  the  chosen  partners  of  His  sufferings,  and 
witnesses  of  His  agony  were  asleep,  or  heavy  with 
sleep,  there  appeared  an  angel  unto  Him  from  heaven 
strengthening  Him}  Surely  it  was  this  very  element 
of  solitude  in  our  Lord's  sufferings  which  rendered 
them  transcendent  in  their  intensity. 

We  were  led,  then,  on  Sunday  last,  to  see  that 
there  was  that  in  His  origin  which  necessarily  sepa- 
rated Him  from  all  those  whose  nature  He  assumed. 
Needful,  however,  as  it  is  to  lay  fast  hold  of  this 
truth,  it  is  no  less  needful  to  grasp  its  correlative 
and  opposite  truth.  And  the  declaration  of  the 
Creed  that  He  suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate,  is  cal- 
culated to  help  us  in  doing  this. 

For  what  is  there  that  at  once  and  in  a  moment 
reduces  all  men  to  a  common  level  like  suffering  ? 
Suffering  is  the  demonstration  of  equality.  The 
wise  man  dieth  as  the  fool.  The  rich  man  quails 
before  the  agony  of  pain  like  the  poor.  Death,  said 
the  poet  of  the  Augustan  age,  smites  with  his  undis- 
criminating  footstep  the  hovels  of  paupers  and  the 
towers  of  kings.  If  there  is  one  thing  which  gives 
the  lie  to  our  selfish  isolation  and  proud  exclusive- 
ness  and  makes  us  one,  it  is  community  of  suffering. 
But  community  of  suffering  does  more  than  this  ;  it 

*  Luke  xxii.  43. 


SUFFERED   UNDER  PONTIUS  PILATE.  125 

not  only  makes  us  one,  it  not  only  compels  us,  as  it 
were,  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  to  surrender  at 
discretion,  and  forego  our  claim  to  a  fictitious  and 
delusive  superiority,  but  it  also  shows  that  we  are  one. 
Whence  this  aching  of  the  heart,  this  racking  of  the 
brain,  this  writhing  of  the  limbs,  this  troubling  of  the 
soul,  which  we  all  feel  and  shrink  from,  but  because 
we  are  all  made  of  one  dust,  to  which,  being  heirs 
of  the  same  mortality,  we  shall  all  return  ?  We 
suffer  alike  because  we  are  made  alike,  we  die  alike 
because  we  have  sinned  alike.  There  is  not  only 
community  of  origin  but  community  of  end ;  and  the 
community  of  end  shows  the  community  of  need, 
and  the  community  of  need  shows  the  unity  of 
nature. 

Now  apply  all  this  to  the  sufferings  of  Christ.  If 
Christ  suffered.  He  was  one  with  those  who  suffer. 
He  was  scourged,  crowned  with  thorns,  pierced  with 
nails,  rent  with  a  spear.  Was  there  no  suffering  in 
all  this }  He  was  mocked,  jeered  at,  spat  upon, 
reviled  :  He  endured  such  contradictio7t  of  sinners 
against  Himself.  Was  there  no  suffering  in  all  this  1 
The  more  delicate  the  organism,  the  more  acute  the 
suffering.  It  could  not  be  but  that  His  organism, 
being  most  refined  and  delicate,  was  most  acutely 
sensitive.  It  could  not  be,  therefore,  but  that  He  suf- 
fered. But  further  being  what  He  was,  shall  we  say 
that  there  was  no  suffering  in  the  all  but  universal 
rejection  which  He  met  with  among    men  }     Was 

^  Heb.  xii.  3. 


126  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

there  no  suffering  in  the  agony  and  bloody  sweat, 
which  was  His  night-long  preparation  for  the  dreadful 
morning  of  torture  and  death  with  which  His  earthly 
career  was  closed  ?  Was  there  no  suffering  in  the 
bitter  cry,  Eli,  Eli,  lama  sabachthani,  with  which,  hav- 
ing witnessed  the  flight  of  those  nearest  and  dearest 
to  Him,  He  endured  as  a  true  man,  and  the  Son  of 
Man,  the  desertion  of  His  Father  on  a'ccount  of  sin  ? 
Yes,  verily,  here  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ  you 
find  the  perfection  of  suffering  intensified  and  subli- 
mated, without  one  redeeming  element  of  mitigation, 
the  fulness  of  a  bitter  cup  without  dilution  or  dimi- 
nution anywhere.  In  all  our  sufferings  there  is 
generally  some  bypath  along  which  we  can  ap- 
proach to  the  goal  which  is  fixed  unalterably  in  our 
just  deserts;  but  here  it  is  otherwise,  and  we  can  but 
confess  with  the  dying  thief.  We  indeed  justly,  for 
we  receive  the  diie  reward  of  our  deeds;  but  this  man 
hath  done  nothing  amiss} 

Here,  then,  there  is  suffering  in  the  perfection  of 
its  refinement  and  purity,  and  the  perfection  of  the 
suffering  showed  the  unity  of  nature  in  the  sufferer 
with  those  who  suffer.  He  showed  conclusively  that 
He  felt  with  us.  He  was  one  with  us  in  suffering, 
for  had  He  not  been  one  with  us  He  could  not  have 
suffered.  But  because  His  sufferings  are  so  refined 
and  purified,  because  there  is  discernible  in  them  no 
trace  of  sin  or  self-reproach,  none  of  the  smitings  or 
rebukes  of  conscience,  therefore  it  is  that  they  are 

^  Luke  xxiii.  41. 


SUFFERED    UNDER  PONTIUS  PILATE,  127 

endued  with  an  inexpressible  sweetness.  We  cannot 
presume  to  pity  Him,  but  we  can  love  His  sorrows. 
We  dare  not  think  of  compassionating  Him,  but  we 
can  adore  His  sufferings.  We  may  seek  to  find  our 
fellowship  in  them,  and  finding  our  fellowship  in 
them  we  can  adore  Him. 

For  it  is  through  the  relation  that  His  sufferings 
have  to  us  that  we  taste  their  sweetness.     As  long 
as  the  sorrows  and  sufferings  of  Christ  are  regarded 
with  indifference,  as  things  at  a  distance,  they  have 
no  effect  upon  us  ;  it  is  only  when  we  find  in  them  a 
true  link  of  connection  with  ourselves  that  they  be- 
come potent  and  effectual.     And  their  potency  con- 
sists in  this,  that  they  take  away  sin.     Christy  we  are 
told,  hath  once  suffered  for  sins;^  He  died  for  our  sins 
according  to  the  Scriptures?'     The  Creed  has  not  em- 
bodied this  truth,  because  it  is  mainly  careful  of  the 
fact.     The  more  we  contemplate  the  fact,  the  more 
we  shall  find  ourselves  at  a  loss  to  account  for  it,  the 
more  we  shall  find  ourselves  face  to  face  with  a  pro- 
found mystery.     Why  did  Christ  suffer?     Suffering 
is  inexplicable  except  on  the  supposition  of  guilt. 
Suffering  must  either  imply  guilt  or  else  it  cannot  be 
suffering.     Pain  implies  the  presence  of  a  disturbing 
element,  or  else  it  is  only  another  form  of  pleasure. 
But  intense  pain  is  practically,  if  not  philosophically, 
the  antithesis  of  pleasure  ;  and  so  suffering,  if  it  be 
suffering,  can    only    be  traced    home    to    a   source 
which  flows  from  guilt.     But    in  the    sufferings  of 

*  I  Peter  iii.  18.  *  i  Cor.  xv.  4. 


128   .  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

Christ  we  lose  ourselves  in  the  search  for  a  source 
of  guilt.  We  must  either  say  that  in  Him  was  no 
sin,  or  we  must  say  that  He  justly  suffered.  Then 
if  we  cannot  trace  suffering  in  Him  to  a  cause  of  sin, 
we  must  explain  it  as  the  remedy  of  sin. 

And  this  is  where  we  discover  its  great  sweetness. 
As  we  taste  the  sufferings  of  Christ  and  feel  their 
sweetness,  we  lose  the  sense  and  the  taste  of  sin,  we 
find  therein  the  antidote  of  the  bane.  We  find  that 
they  have  an  unexplained  and  inexplicable  moral 
connection  with  human  sin,  and  the  connection  is 
that  of  the  remedy  for  it.  Given  the  fact  of  Christ's 
sufferings,  which  the  Creed  proclaims,  we  must  either 
acknowledge  that  they  are  like  all  other  sufferings, 
or  else  are  unlike  them.  If  they  are  like  them,  then 
there  is  personal  sin  directly  connected  with  them, 
and  they  were  the  consequence  of  personal  sin  in 
Christ,  which  God  forbid  ;  if  they  are  unlike  them, 
they  are  unlike  only  in  this,  that  whereas  all  other 
sufferings  more  or  less  directly  flow  from  sin,  these 
sufferings  flow  against  sin,  to  counteract,  redeem,  and 
cancel  it.  And  this  is  what  they  do, — though  that 
they  do  it  is  a  matter  of  faith,  and  not  of  demonstra- 
tion. We  may  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  suffered 
under  Pontius  Pilate,  but  that  bare  fact  will  be 
barren  in  ourselves  unless  we  know  and  believe  that 
He  suffered  for  us.  This  is  the  way  in  which  the 
belief  of  the  fact  affects  us  unto  life  and  salvation, 
but  it  Gannot  do  so  unless  it  is  a  fact.  And  there- 
fore we  say  that  He  suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate, 


SUFFERED   UNDER  PONTIUS  PILATE.  129 

because  that  is  the  point  by  which  the  fact  is  fixed  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  We  know  when  Pontius 
Pilate  lived,  and  who  he  was,  and  whence  he  came, 
and  whither  he  went,  and  as  every  fact  in  human 
history  is  in  order  of  time,  and  sequence  of  events 
fixed  by  its  relation  to  other  events  and  facts,  so 
with  the  fact  of  Christ's  suffering.  That  took  place 
during  the  time  when  Pontius  Pilate  was  the 
governor  who  represented  Tiberius  Caesar  at  Jerusalem. 
He  was  the  imperial  viceroy  or  lord-lieutenant,  and 
under  his  viceroyalty  Jesus  Christ  suffered.  It  is  a 
simple  matter  of  history,  attested  by  a  variety  of 
independent  witnesses  and  events,  that  cannot  be 
gainsaid.  In  those  days  the  man  Jesus  Christ  as  a 
man  suffered.  Those  were  the  days  of  His  suffering. 
He  then  had  taken  our  humanity,  and  was  sharing 
our  sufferings. 

From  that  commonplace  visible  fact  which  takes 
its  place  among  the  other  commonplace  facts  of  this 
very  commonplace,  and  every  day  world  flows  the 
unseen  fact  of  our  redemption.  Destroy  the  one 
fact  and  the  other  is  destroyed  ;  but  you  cannot  de- 
stroy the  one  fact,  and  therefore  the  other  is  inde- 
structible. Christianity  is  a  religion,  the  roots  of 
which  are  planted  deep  in  the  soil  of  this  sinstricken 
earth,  but  the  effects  of  it  are  felt  in  heaven.  It  is 
like  a  tower,  of  which  the  foundation  is  laid  deep 
down  in  the  solid  rock,  but  the  top  of  it  reaches  to 
heaven.  Of  old  men  tried  to  rear  such  a  tower,  but 
they  could  not  rear  it,  and  even  now  from  time  to 

9 


I30  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

time  they  try  and  try  again,  but  they  cannot  succeed, 
for  God  hath  reared  the  only  tower,  which  He  hath 
ordained  as  a  refuge  for  the  sons  of  men,  and  that 
tower  is  the  person  of  His  Son,  who  having  His 
roots  in  the  natural  soil  of  our  humanity,  and  His 
foundation  in  the  solid  rock  of  human  history,  hath 
nevertheless  ascended  into  the  heavens  as  our  repre- 
sentative and  redeemer.  We  have  the  abiding 
witness  of  His  being  and  having  been  one  with  us 
in  the  record  of  His  sufferings,  which  He  suffered 
under  Pontius  Pilate,  when  He  was  scourged,  and 
pierced,  blasphemed,  and  spit  upon,  reviled,  rejected, 
and  set  at  nought.  And  in  the  assurance  that 
we  have,  that  these  sufferings  were  on  our  behalf 
and  for  our  sins,  we  have  the  proof  established  and 
confirmed  that  our  sins  have  been  forgiven,  and  that 
through  His  sufferings  we  have  been  redeemed. 
And  thus,  in  all  our  sufferings  for  a  brief  space  here 
on  earth,  we  have  the  confident  hope,  if  we  belong 
to  Him  and  have  Him  with  us  in  them,  that  we 
through  them  shall  be  raised  eventually  to  triumph 
and  rejoice  with  Him  in  heaven. 


XII. 
WAS  CRUCIFIED, 

And  it  was  the  third  hour,  and  they  crucified  Him. — Mark  xy.  25. 

THE  Apostles'  Creed  is  very  full  and  circum- 
stantial in  its  reference  to  the  termination 
of  our  Lord's  earthly  career,  which  is  the  subject  of 
no  less  than  five  separate  statements  :  "  He  suffered 
under  Pontius  Pilate,  was  crucified,  dead,  and  buried  ; 
He  descended  into  hell."  Each  of  these  incidents  is 
worthy  of  separate  and  independent  consideration. 
To-day,  we  have  to  consider  the  statement,  "  Was 
Crucified."  Here,  again,  we  are  dealing  with  the 
simple  fact,  which  must  of  necessity  be  the  essence 
and  kernel  of  any  doctrine  that  may  be  based  upon 
it.  And  of  this  fact  there  is  the  fullest  possible 
proof  from  the  concise  words  of  the  historian  Tacitus, 
siipplicio  affectiis  erat}  to  the  elaborate  and  detailed 
narratives  of  the  four  evangelists.  The  statement 
of  the  text,  however,  And  it  was  the  third  hour^ 
and  they  crucified  Him,  has  the  appearance  of  being 
in  collision  with  the  corresponding  statement  of  St. 

'  Ann.  XV.  44. 


132  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

John, '*'  And  it  was  the  preparation  of  the  Passover^ 
and  about  the  sixth  hour^  and  he  saith  unto  the  JewSy 
Behold  your  king}     But  they  cried  out,  Away  with 
Him,  crucify  Him,''  which   seems   to    point   to   the 
inference  that  the  crucifixion  did  not  take  place  till 
the  sixth  hour,  that  is  twelve  o'clock  at  noon,  instead 
of  the  third  hour,  that  is  nine  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing.    Of  this  apparent  divergence  the  utmost  has  of 
course  been  made  by  the  opponents  of  the  Christian 
faith.     On  this  point,  however,  we  may  in  passing 
just  make  two  observations.     First,  that  even  allow- 
ing the  actual  divergence  to  be  as  great  as  it  appears 
to  be,  and  to  involve  the  whole  difference  of  three 
hours  as  to  the  time  of  crucifixion,  yet  even  then  the 
credibility  of  the  fact  is  in  no  degree  affected  thereby. 
In  ordinary  life,  if   there  were  four  witnesses  to  a 
particular  fact,  about  which  they  all  agreed,  though 
one  of  the  four  differed  from  the  rest  as  to  the  time 
at  which  it  occurred,  no  man  would  for  a  moment 
doubt  the  reality  of  the  occurrence  by  reason  of  this 
minor  discrepance.     And  secondly,  the  best  explana- 
tion of  the  difficulty  that  I  have  seen  is  the  supposi- 
tion that  St.  John  alludes  not  to  the  sixth  hour  of 
the  day,  but  to  the  sixth  hour  of  the  preparation 
he  has  just  before  mentioned,  and  that  this  hour  is 
counted  not  from  the  commencement,  but  after  the 
Jewish  manner,  from  the  close  of   the  preparation. 
As  the    preparation  ended    about    three  o'clock  on 
Friday,  six    hours    before    it  would    be  about  nine 

^  John  xix.  14. 


IVAS   CRUCIFIED,  133 

o'clock  on  the  same  day,  which  is  the  time,  when 
according    to    St.    Mark,    our    Lord    was    crucified. 
Now  as  to  the  particular  death  He  died,  crucifixion 
was  not  a  Jewish  but  a  Roman  mode  of  punishment. 
Had  our  Lord  died  by  the  Jewish  law,  He  would 
have  been  stoned,  but  the  Jews  in  their  subject  con- 
dition had  not  the  legal  right  to  stone  a  prisoner  for 
blasphemy.     When  Pilate,  therefore,  had  reluctantly 
given  his  consent  to  the  execution  of  Jesus,  it  was 
as  a  Roman  citizen  and  not  as  a  Jewish  subject  that 
He   died.     And    this  was  the    second  occasion    on 
which  we  find  our    Lord    outstripping    the    narrow 
bounds    of   Jewish    nationality,    and    asserting    His 
identity  with  the  Gentile  world  that,  as  well  as  the 
Jewish  world,  He  came  to  save.     The  first  time  was 
when  He  went  down  into  Egypt,  to  take  refuge  from 
Herod  ;  the  second  was  when  He  was  led  forth  with- 
out the  holy  city,  to  be  crucified  as  a  Roman   male- 
factor on  the  hill  of  Calvary.     Thus  it  was  that  He 
broke  down  the  middle  wall  of   partition,  between 
the  Jew  and  the  Gentile,  and  in   His  death  united 
those  who  in  their  lifetime  had  been  irreconcilably 
divided.      It  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  features 
of   our  blessed   Lord's  character,  that  it  is  entirely 
devoid  of   nationality.     Whereas  we  have  no  diffi- 
culty now  in  recognising  the  Frenchman,  the  German, 
the  American,  the  Englishman,  as  a  member  of  the 
particular  nation  to  which  he  belongs^  and  we  none 
of  us  can  divest  ourselves  of  our  own  peculiar  national 
characteristics — in    the    character     of   Jesus    Christ 


134  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

we  find  not  the  special  features  of  the  Jew,  the 
Roman,  or  the  Greek,  but  that  genuine  breadth  and 
simplicity  of  character  which  we  should  expect  to 
mark  the  life  of  one  who  was  emphatically  the  Son 
of  Man  ;  and  in  the  particular  kind  of  death  He  chose 
to  die,  we  see  Him  breaking  loose  from  the  trammels 
of  Judaism,  and  condescending  to  assert  His  oneness 
with  the  heathen  nation  under  whose  authority  and 
jurisdiction  He  was  content  to  suffer. 

Now,  this  fact  of  our  Lord's  crucifixion,  has,  it  is 
needless  to  say,  stamped  itself  on  the  mind  of  the 
nations  of  Christendom.  The  cross  is  the  most  con- 
spicuous feature  of  our  material  and  artistic  life,  from 
the  dome  of  the  magnificent  cathedral  that  looks  down 
on  this  vast  metropolis,  to  the  ornaments  of  personal 
attire,  that  are  cherished  and  worn  by  men  and  women 
alike.  In  the  foreign  countries  of  Christendom  this 
is  of  course  even  more  obvious  than  among  ourselves. 
But  if  the  figure  of  the  cross  has  in  certain  cases 
been  turned  to  a  superstitious  purpose,  there  is  no 
reason  why  it  should  be  proscribed  by  us.  In  itself, 
it  has  manifestly  and  can  have  no  virtue  or  intrinsic 
merit,  any  more  than  the  actual  wooden  framework 
to  which  our  Lord  was  nailed  could  have ;  but  as  the 
■memorial  and  token  of  the  extremest  and  most 
transcendant  act  of  love  that  was  ever  witnessed  or 
performed,  it  can  never  cease  to  be  dear  to  the 
imaginations  and  the  eyes  of  Christians,  and  may 
justly  be  regarded  as  a  token  full  of  the  most  signifi- 
cant meaning,  and  consecrated  by  the  most  blessed 


WAS  CRUCIFIED.  135 


associations.  In  St.  Paul's  epistles,  moreover,  we 
find  that  the  cross  of  Christ  has  become  so  familiar 
to  the  minds  of  His  followers,  that  it  has  passed 
altogether  out  of  the  realm  of  mere  historic  occur- 
rence into  that  of  ideal  association  and  significance, 
as  for  example,  when  He  says,  God  forbid  that  I 
should  glory y  save  in  the  crossl  or,  We  preach  Christ 
crucified,  to  the  Jews  a  stumbling-block,  and  to  the 
Greeks  foolishness?  There  can  be  no  question  that 
in  such  cases,  what  the  writer  means  is  the  ethical 
and  spiritual  doctrine  connected  with  the  fact  of 
Christ's  crucifixion,  and  not  that  fact  alone  apart 
from  the  doctrine,  but  still  we  must  always  bear  in 
mind  that  the  doctrine  depends  upon  the  fact,  and  not 
the  fact  upon  the  doctrine.  It  was  the  fact  that  origi- 
nated the  doctrine,  and  gave  the  impulse  to  the  doc- 
trine, and  not  the  doctrine  that  originated  the  fact. 

Let  us  then  attempt  to  apprehend  some  of  the 
many  and  solemn  lessons  that  are  involved  in  and 
inculcated  by  the  fact  of  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus. 
First,  by  His  crucifixion  our  Lord  set  the  seal  to  all 
that  He  had  before  taught  and  done.  It  was  not, 
humanly  speaking,  inevitable  that  He  should  be 
taken  and  crucified.  More  than  once  we  read  of 
His  escaping  from  the  hands  of  His  enemies  when 
they  were  on  the  point  of  taking  Him.  More  than 
once  we  read  of  His  deliberately  avoiding  such 
places  and  persons  as  would  naturally  compass  Him 
about  with    peril.     More   than   once  we   find    Him 

*  Gal.  vi.  14.  2  I  (^or.  i.  23. 


136  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

saying  that  His  hour  was  not  yet  come,  and  acting 
accordingly.  The  natural  inference  from  all  this  is 
that  He  who  could  and  did  at  times  protect  and 
deliver  Himself,  could  have  done  so  at  the  last,  had 
He  seen  fit.  We  must  either  believe  that  He  was 
finally  circumvented  by  His  enemies,  of  which  there 
is  no  evidence,  or  we  must  allow  that  when  the  fulness 
of  the  time  was  come,  He  shrank  not  from  allowing 
His  enemies  to  accomplish  their  malice  upon  Him. 
We  cannot  but  feel  that  the  terrible  end  to  which 
He  submitted,  was,  in  effect,  the  confirmation  of  the 
truth  which  He  had  before  inculcated.  We  have  but 
to  compare  the  difference  of  feeling  that  would  have 
been  produced  in  our  minds  if  our  Lord  had  shrunk 
from  the  last  crisis,  instead  of  facing  it,  if  He  had 
preserved  His  life,  instead  of  consenting  to  lose  it. 
There  would  have  been  an  end  to  our  love  for  Him, 
His  name  would  not  have  been  regarded  any  longer 
as  a  blessing  to  mankind.  And  yet  it  was  clearly  in 
His  power  to  avoid  the  final  catastrophe,  if,  when  He 
was  adjured  bj^  the  high  priest,  He  had  been  willing 
to  retract  His  former  teaching,  and  forego  His  claim  to 
be  the  Son  of  God.  That  was  the  very  point  in  the 
indictment  upon  which  He  was  convicted.  By  that, 
therefore,  He  must  be  judged;  and  so  His  death  must 
be  acknowledged  as  the  very  proof  and  establishment 
of  His  doctrine,  unless,  we,  like  the  high  priest,  are 
prepared  to  rend  our  clothes  and  exclaim,  He  hath 
spoken  blasphemy^  what  need  we  any  further  witiiess  f" 
^  Matt.  xxvi.  65. 


WAS   CRUCIFIED.  137 


But  again,  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus  was  not  only 
the  seal  of  His  own  teaching,  it  was  likewise  the 
fulfilment  of  prophesy.  Ages  before,  there  had 
been  dark  utterances  of  no  ambiguous  import, 
which,  when  the  events  foreshadowed  had  come 
to  pass,  were  found  clear  as  day.  Aivake^  O,  sword, 
against  my  shepherd,  and  against  the  man  that  is 
my  fellow,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts:  smite  the  Shep- 
herd, and  the  sheep  shall  be  scattered,  and  I  will 
turn  my  hand  upon  the  little  ones}  They  shall  look 
on  m,e  whom  they  have  pierced,  and  they  shall  mourn 
for  Him  as  one  mourneth  for  his  only  son,  and  shall 
be  in  bitterness  for  him  as  07ie  that  is  in  bitterness 
for  his  firstborn?     As  for  Thee  also  by  the  blood  of 

Thy  covenant,  I  have  sent  forth  Thy  prisoners  out 
of  the  pit  wherein  is  no  water?  They  parted  'my  gar- 
ments among  them,  and  upon  my  vesture  did  they  cast 
lots.  I  may  tell  all  my  bones,  they  stand  staring  and 
looking  2ipon  me?  Of  these  and  many  other  pas- 
sages we  may  truly  say  that  in  the  light  of  the 
crucifixion  of  Jesus  they  receive  a  depth  and  fulness 
of  meaning,  which,  on  any  other  supposition,  they 
wholly  lack  ;  and  I  believe  it  is  simply  impossible  to 
read  the  scriptures  of  the  prophets  as  a  whole,  and 
not  feel  convinced  that  there  is  in  the  combination  of 
them  a  marvellous  anticipation  and  foreshadowing  of 
events  to  come,  which  was  either  baffled  or  thwarted 
altogether,  or  else  was  most  remarkably  verified  in 
Jesus  Christ.     If  you  take  passage  by  passage  singly, 

>  Zech.  xiii.  7.     '  Zech.  xii.  10,     »  Zech.  ix.  II.     ^  Ps.  xxii.  18,  17. 


138  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

and  are  determined  to  destroy  the  expectation  of 
the  Saviour,  you  can  do  so,  just  as  if  you  take  a 
bundle  of  sticks,  you  may  break  them  singly,  but 
the  combined  result  is  one  of  conclusive  strength, 
which  it  is  impossible  to  resist  or  to  deny.  The  cross 
of  Jesus  Christ  has  shewn  in  a  manner  altogether 
unique  and  unparalleled,  that  the  mission  of  the 
ancient  prophets  was  Divine,  and  that  in  their  varied 
utterances  was  expressed  the  mind  of  One  who  most 
wonderfully  spake  by  them,  and  who  intended  us 
to  understand  that  it  was  He  by  whose  Spirit  they 
spake. 

But  again,  in  the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ  we  have  the 
whole  mystery  of  redemption,  as  the  apostle  says. 
The  preaching  of  the  cross  is  to  them  that  perish  fool- 
ishness^ but  unto  us  which  are  saved  it  is  t/ie  power  of 
God}  With  this  double  aspect  of  the  cross  let  us 
bring  our  present  meditations  to  an  end.  To  some  it 
is  a  stumbling-block,  and  it  is  foolishness.  In  the 
Jewish  mind,  and  in  the  Greek  mind  it  encountered 
and  offended  national  and  inveterate  pride.  The  Jew 
wanted  an  exhibition  of  national  power,  of  external 
and  material  glory.  In  the  cross  of  Jesus,  and  in 
Jesus  he  found  one  who  had  blasphemed  the  law,  who 
had  died  in  disgrace,  and  had  quenched  for  ever  his 
inherited  hopes  of  power.  The  cross  was  the  exact 
opposite  of  all  that  he  had  longed  for.  It  seemed  to 
ruin  his  fondest  day-dreams,  it  was  to  him  a  stumbling- 
block,  a  scandal.  To  the  Greek,  whose  highly-disci- 
»  I  Cor.  i.  i8. 


WAS  CRUCIFIED,  139 


plined  intellect  found  pleasure  only  in  the  problems 
of  the  mind,  the  speculations  of  the  fancy,  the  dia- 
lectics of  the  reason,  the  cross  of  Christ  was  simple 
folly.  There  was  nothing  to  satisfy  the  intellectual 
taste.  The  cross  dealt  with  no  theoretical  questions, 
though  practically  it  answered  all ;  but  the  Greek 
mind  was  not  practical,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  was  too  sober  and  commonplace  a  fact  to 
possess  any  interest  for  the  mere  theorist.  Besides, 
it  spoke  to  a  sense  of  sin,  and  struck  at  the  root  of 
vice.  It  trampled  upon  moral  pride,  and  therefore 
it  was  accounted  folly. 

But  notwithstanding  the  imputation  of  foolishness 
under  which  it  laboured  in  the  estimation  of  the 
Greeks;  notwithstanding  the  scandal  and  the  stum- 
bling-block which  it  cast  in  the  path  of  the  Jews, 
the  cross  of  Christ  was  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation  ;  and  we  can  appeal  to  the  testimony  of 
eighteen  centuries  in  proof  of  the  assertion.  The 
schools  of  Athens  have  brought  all  their  glory  and 
intellectual  wealth  into  the  church  of  Christ.  The 
dreams  of  Plato  have  been  more  than  realised  in 
the  perfect  constitution  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
The  wisdom  of  Aristotle  has  exercised  no  influence 
to  be  compared  with  that  of  the  cross  of  Christ  : 
for  while  the  wisdom  of  Aristotle  has  enlightened 
only  cultivated  minds,  the  cross  of  Christ  has  illumi- 
nated the  darkest  spots  of  human  existence,  and 
penetrated  the  mass  of  society  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest     The  dominion  of  the  gospel  has  long 


140  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

ago  been  acknowledged  by  a  territory  far  wider  than 
that  first  promised  to  Abraham  or  afterwards  ruled 
by  Solomon  ;  vastly  more  extensive  than  the  em- 
pires of  Cyrus  or  Alexander,  the  Pharaohs  or  the 
Caesars  ;  and  the  conquests  it  has  achieved  in  the 
past,  and  is  yet  achieving  in  the  present,  are  but  the 
earnest  and  the  pledge  of  that  universal  empire  to 
which  it  is  surely  destined  in  the  future.  Is  not 
this  the  power  of  God  ?  A  power  which  beyond 
all  question  has  never  been  exhibited  by  man  or 
by  the  sons  of  men,  and  compared  with  which  any 
power  recognised  on  earth  is  but  very  weakness, 
because  it  is  the  power  of  Divine  love.  The  cross 
of  Christ  comes  to  the  heart  of  each  separate  in- 
dividual as  the  revelation  to  it  of  God's  love ;  as 
the  personal  exhibition  on  the  part  of  Christ  of  the 
value  He  sets  on  each  individual  soul.  The  cruci- 
fixion of  Jesus  as  an  actual  historic  fact,  which 
cannot  be  gainsaid,  is  the  distinct  message  of  Jesus 
to  each  one  of  you  declaring  His  love  for  you.  He 
hath  loved  you  unto  the  death.  He  hath  given  His 
life  for  you.  His  cross  is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation.  For  it  is  the  destruction  of  sin  in  the 
individual — the  blood  of  Jestis  Christ  cleanseth  from 
all  sin}  We  are  not  told  how  it  does  this,  but  we 
are  told  it  does  it.  When  the  blood  of  Christ  comes 
into  contact  with  sin  it  eliminates,  abolishes  sin. 
And  the  fact  that  it  does  this,  a  fact  which  is  over 
and  over  again  witnessed  in  the  conscience  of  the 

'  John  i.  7, 


JVAS  CRUCIFIED. 


141 


believer,  is  the  evidence  that  the  cross  of  Christ 
is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation.  There  is  no- 
thing else  which  can  deal  with  sin  :  nothing  devised 
or  invented  by  man  is  competent  to  deal  with  it, 
because  sin  is  violence  done  to  God,  disorder  intro- 
duced into  God's  world,  and  therefore  only  a  special 
act  on  God's  part  is  competent  to  deal  with  it.  But 
such  an  act  we  have  in  the  cross  of  Christ, /^r  God 
comine7tdeth  his  love  towards  us  in  that,  while  we 
were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us}  The  act  of 
Christ  is  claimed  as  God's  act.  He  proceeds  on  the 
assumption  that  it  is  His  own  act.  He  presents  and 
recommends  it  to  us  as  the  all-conclusive  proof  of 
His  love  ;  and  when  it  is  so  accepted  it  becomes  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation  ;  it  is  mighty  through 
God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strongholds ;  it  over- 
throws carnal  pride,  it  subdues  prejudice,  it  rebukes 
and  expels  sin,  it  brings  in  peace,  and  so  it  saves 
us ;  it  makes  us  whole  where  we  were  before  sick, 
it  heals  us  where  before  we  had  need  of  healing. 
And  yet  it  is  only  too  evident  that  there  are  many 
on  whom  it  fails  to  produce  any  such  results.  Those 
who  were  spectators  of  the  death  of  Christ  were 
only  moved  by  it  as  by  a  spectacle  of  sorrow.  It 
was  the  moral  consequence  of  the  death  of  Christ 
that  made  those  whom  it  influenced  new  men  ;  and 
this  result  can  only  be  produced  where  the  death  of 
Christ  is  received  by  faith.  When  we  severally  and 
personally  find  in  that  death  the  union  of  our  mor- 
'  Rom.  V.  8. 


142  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

tality  with  God,  the  extinction  of  our  sin  through 
His  righteousness,  the  destruction  of  the  old  man  in 
the  resurrection  of  the  new, — then  His  death  be- 
comes to  us  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation.  It  asserts 
its  power  in  us  ;  it  fulfils  in  us  the  Divine  will,  and 
makes  us  strong  to  bear  what  He  shall  lay  upon  us. 
In  the  broken  body  of  the  Lord  we  find  our  own 
death  unto  sin,  our  own  life  unto  righteousness,  and 
the  fulness  of  ultimate  redemption  in  the  assurance 
of  present  redemption  from  sin.  Thus  "  He  was 
crucified "  becomes  the  indelible  mark  in  human 
history  of  God's  forgiveness  of  mankind  :  a  forgive- 
ness which  becomes  individualised  and  personal 
according  as  it  is  personally  apprehended  ;  and  the 
token  also  of  that  perpetual  covenant  whereof  He 
sware  and  will  not  repent,  who  said,  Thou  art  a 
priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of  Melchizedec} 

*  Ps.  ex.  4. 


XIII. 

DEAD. 

And  Jesus  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  and  gave  up  the  ghost ;  and  the 
vail  of  the  temple  was  rent  in  twain  from  the  top  to  the  bottom. — 
Mark  xv.  37,  38. 

WE  come  now  to  the  consideration  of  that  one 
solemn  word  in  the  Apostles'  Creed,  namely 
"dead,"  which  marks  the  close  of  our  Lord's  human  and 
natural  career.  And  little  did  I  think,  my  brethren, 
when  I  last  addressed  you,  of  the  solemn  and  mourn- 
ful illustration  which  our  next  meditation  would 
receive  in  the  lamentable  accident  which  deprived 
this  nation  of  one  of  its  brightest  ornaments,  and 
this  church  of  her  greatest  prelate.^  To  be  sure  the 
blow  had  already  fallen  on  us,  but  for  the  most  part 
we  knew  it  not.  It  came  upon  me  like  a  thunder- 
clap, upon  returning  home  after  the  evening  service  ; 
but  in  such  a  form  that  I  scarcely  knew  whether  to 
believe  it,  just  as  when  the  sun  is  bright  and  warm, 
and  the  birds  are  singing,  and  the  flowers  are  gay, 
there  is  a  sudden  murmur  heard,  and  we  pause  and 
ask,  Was  that  thunder }  For  myself,  I  believe 
enough  has  not  been  said,  and  it  is  hardly  possible 

'  Samuel  Wilberforce,  Bishop  of  Winchester^  killed  by  a  fall  from 
his  horse,  July  19th,  1873. 


144  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

to  say  enough  of  him  whom  we  have  lost.      Just  ten 
days  before  his  death  I  had  the  great  privilege  of 
hearing  him  preach,  in  King's  College  Chapel,  what 
must  have  been  almost,  if  not   absolutely,  his  last 
sermon.     Very  beautiful   and  touching  it  was,  and 
now  never   to  be  forgotten.      In  words  almost  pro- 
phetic, he  turned  to  his  younger  hearers  and  said, 
"You   who   are  coming   forward  into   the  life  from 
which    I    am    fast    retiring,    let    this    thought,    the 
thought  of  my  text,  be  your  stay.  He  knoweth  the 
way  that  I  take ;   when  He   hath  tried  me  I  shall 
come  forth  as  gold" ^     Little,  however,  could  he  have 
thought  that  his  own  time  was  so  near.     Little  did 
I  know,  when  I  grasped  his  hand,  and  gazed  on  his 
beaming  and  brilliant  countenance,  and  listened  to 
his  silvery  voice,  that  it  was  a  privilege  granted  for 
the  last  time.     We  need  grieve,  indeed,  only  for  our- 
selves ;  for,  as  the  Primate  truly  said  in  Parliament,  we 
cannot  call  it  a  calamity  for  a  man  to  be  summoned 
away  in  the  midst  of  his  vigour,  and  in  obedience  to 
a  voice  which  he  had  long  expected,  not  unprepared 
but  ready  for  the  summons.     It  would  be  out  of  place 
in  me  to  attempt  to  offer  anything  like  a  eulogium 
on  Bishop  Wilberforce  ;  but  I  could  not  bring  myself 
to  pass  by  his  death  in  silence,  and  it  seemed  that 
the   incident  I  have  mentioned   had  now  a  special 
and  peculiar  interest  from  its  being  connected  with 
probably  the  last  occasion  of  a  public  and  geneijal 
kind  on  which  he  was  seen  among  us,  of  whom  it  is 

*  Job  xxiii.  lo. 


DEAD.  145 

not  too  much  to  say  that  "  we  shall  not  look  upon 
his  like  again," 

And  now,  brethren,  we  pass  from  the  death 
of  the  great,  the  illustrious;  the  eloquent,  the  bril- 
liant, the  polished,  the  sparkling,  the  pure-minded, 
the  beloved,  to  another  death  without  which  the 
contemplation,  or  the  possession  of  any,  or  of  all 
these  qualities  combined  could  give  us  no  plea- 
sure, from  the  death  of  the  servant  who  did  his 
work  nobly  and  well,  to  the  death  of  the  Master 
whom  he  served,  and  by  whose  death,  we  trust,  he 
lived  and  yet  lives.  Jesus  Christ  died  :  He  was 
crucified,  dead^  and  buried.  I  have  taken  for  the 
motto  of  my  subject  those  words  of  St.  Mark  which 
express  the  simple  fact  and  its  immediate  results. 
We  have  to  contemplate  the  spectacle  of  death 
never  unfamiliar,  now,  alas,  become  so  painfully 
familiar,  in  Him  whose  death  was  the  redemption 
of  mankind.  We  have  to  gaze  upon  that  favourite 
subject  of  the  old  masters,  the  dead  Christ.  The 
ninth  hour  has  come,  the  sixth  of  the  crucifixion, 
the  third  of  the  supernatural  darkness  spread  over 
all  the  earth,  the  great  cry  has  been  uttered,  and 
Christ  has  made  His  soul  an  offering  for  sin.  We 
must  not  forget  His  own  words,  Therefore  doth  my 
Father  love  me^  because  I  lay  dow7i  my  life  that  I 
might  take  it  again.  No  man  taketh  it  from  me^ 
but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself :  I  have  power  to  lay  it 
down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again.  This 
commandment  have  I  received  of  my  Father.  Our 
»  John  X.I  7,  18.  10 


146  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

Lord  did  not  die  from  the  effects  of  crucifixion, — at 
least,  it  does  not  appear  that  He  did.  Crucifixion 
did  not  kill  the  thieves  who  were  put  to  death  with 
Him.  To  pierce  the  hands  and  feet  is  not  mortal ;  to 
place  a  crown  of  thorns  upon  the  brow  is  not  mortal. 
When  the  side  was  pierced  with  the  spear,  which 
would  have  been  a  mortal  act,  Jesus  was  already- 
dead.  But  besides  this,  we  are  told  that  in  the 
very  article  of  death  He  cried  with  a  loud  voice, 
that  heaven  and  earth  might  hear,  FatheVy  into  Thy 
hands  I  co^nmend  my  spirit.  It  is  fifiished}  There 
was  no  exhaustion  there,  there  was  not  even  the 
gathering  together  of  the  powers  of  the  system  for 
one  last  convulsive  effort ;  but  there  was,  as  indi- 
cated, the  deliberate  resignation  of  the  life  into  the 
hands  of  Him  that  gave  it,  when  the  hour  was  come. 
This  was  the  sacrifice  of  Christ — the  crowning  act  of 
self-sacrifice,  not  the  self-immolation  of  one  who 
rushes  madly  on  to  death ;  but  the  calm,  conscious, 
devoted  surrender  of  the  life  that  was  dear  to  its 
possessor,  to  Him  who  claimed  it  as  His  own.  Into 
the  question  of  the  physical  causes  of  our  Lord's 
death  I  do  not  propose  to  enter.  We  are  not  con- 
cerned with  the  verdict  that  a  jury  in  a  coroner's 
inquest  would  have  returned.  To  us  there  remains 
the  undoubted  fact  that  our  Lord  was  dead.  Pilate 
marvelled  if  he  were  already  dead :  ^  he  did  not  sup- 
pose that  the  sufferings  inflicted  had  been  sufficient 
to  extinguish  life;  of  the  other  sufferings  undergone, 

*  Luke  xxiii.  46;  John  xix.  30.  '  Mark  xv.  44. 


DEAD.  147 


and  the  mental  agony  of  the  sleepless  night  which 
had  sorely  taxed  a  delicate  and  sensitive  frame  he 
knew  nothing ;  but  calling  unto  him  the  centurion^ 
he  asked  him  whether  he  had  been  any  while  dead, 
and  when  he  knew  it  of  the  centurion,  who  was 
responsible  for  the  fact,  he  gave  the  lifeless  body  to 
Joseph}  There  was  the  perfected  sacrifice.  The 
teacher  at  the  early  age  of  three  and  thirty  was 
summoned  away,  and  his  body  became  a  corpse. 

The  sect  of  the  Docetae  in  the  first  ages  of  the 
Church  denied  the  fact  of  our  Lord's  death — they 
could  not  bear  to  think  that  He  had  actually  suc- 
cumbed to  the  conditions  of  mortality.  They  would 
rather  contemplate  His  departure  as  a  solemn  and 
sublime  spectacle,  very  affecting  and  tragic,  but  like 
a  tragedy,  unreal.  To  us  there  is  no  temptation  of 
this  kind  ;  we  cling  to  the  blessed  assurance  that 
Jesus  Christ  expired,  breathed  out  His  life,  gave  up 
the  ghost,  as  much  as  we  do  to  the  assurance  that 
Jesus  wept — each  is  a  proof  to  us  of  His  complete 
humanity,  that  He  was  very  man.^  He  died  as  we  all 
die:  as  we  watch  our  friends  one  by  one  fall  asleep, 
whether  suddenly  and  in  a  moment  without  any 
warning,  as  he  whose  loss  is  uppermost  in  our  minds, 
or  in  lingering  hours  of  slowly  advancing  disease, 
and  ever  increasing  feebleness  and  pain.  That  fatal 
state  which  comes  alike,  and  in  time  to  all,  came 
also  to  Jesus,  in  identity  of  results,  though  not  as  in 
our  case,  without  any  concurrent  will,  because  He  was 

*  Mark  xv.  44,  45.  *  John  xi.  35. 


148  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED, 

not  only  the  Sacrifice  who  died,  but  also  the  self- 
sacrificing  Priest  who  offered  up  Himself. 

And  I  want  to  bring  you  near,  brethren,  to  the 
dead  body  of  the  Lord,  I  want  you  to  feel  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  dead,  that  in  His  human  body  life  was 
vanished,  obliterate,  quenched.  The  chills  of  death 
came  over  Him — His  body  became  cold, rigid,  passive, 
unresisting,  motionless.  Look  upon  the  picture  by 
Rubens  of  the  descent  from  the  cross,  see  how  truly 
Christ  is  dead,  the  light  is  darkened  in  the  pallid 
fece,  the  eyes  are  closed,  the  limbs  hang  down,  the 
pulse  has  ceased.  The  body  is  dead,  and  dead 
because  of  sin.  What  He  was  we  all  shall  be,  none 
knows  how  soon,  and  none  knows  in  what  form,  or 
under  what  circumstances  death  shall  come.  But  this 
we  know,  that  the  death  of  Christ  has  taken  away 
the  sting  of  death  for  us.  We  can  now  say,  O  death, 
where  is  thy  sting  ?  And  why  is  this }  because 
of  the  momentous  issues  which  the  death  of  Christ 
involved.  These  issues  were,  properly  speaking,  not 
consequences  such  as  every  important  death  involves, 
whether  it  be  the  death  of  a  prelate  or  the  death  of 
a  king,  but  issues  gathered  up  and  concentrated  in 
the  death  itself.  Christ  was  the  high  priest  of  hu- 
manity, the  representative  man.  When  He  breathed 
out  His  Spirit,  the  human  spirit  was  redeemed,  it 
was  delivered  from  the  burden  of  thfe  flesh,  it  was 
surrendered  to  God,  and  safe  in  the  hands  of  God. 
That  is  a  fact,  therefore,  which  requires  to  be  appre- 
hended, to  be  grasped  and  laid  hold  of,  retained  and 


DEAD. 


149 


clung  to.  There  is  redemption  for  you  and  for  me 
in  the  death  of  Christ.  The  death  of  Christ  is  our 
hope  and  our  stay.  We  die  unto  sin  with  Him. 
We  lay  our  sins  on  Him,  and  lose  them  in  His  death. 
Let  us  believe  this  truth  with  all  the  heart,  and  live 
by  it. 

We  see  then  in  the  death  of  Christ,  God's  method 
of  dealing  with  the  evils  of  our  position.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  our  constant  liability  to  death  is  a 
terrible  drawback.  What  a  frightful  shock  to  the 
immediate  companions  of  the  late  bishop  must  his 
fatal  accident  have  been — what  a  cruel  and  bitter 
mockery  of  the  golden  and  sunny  hours  of  relaxation 
they  had  hoped  to  spend ;  but  this  is  the  condition  of 
of  our  existence  here,  we  walk  in  the  midst  of  pit- 
falls, and  know  not  which  is  to  engulf  us.  Now, 
how  does  God  deal  with  such  a  condition,  how  does 
He  redeem  us  from  the  misery  of  it  1  By  submit- 
ting to  it  Himself — not  by  avoiding  but  by  yielding  to 
that  very  stroke  of  death  which  we  so  much  dread 
and  shrink  from.  He  bows  His  own  neck  to  the 
yoke,  and  in  doing  so  takes  it  off  our  neck..  This 
being  once  for  all  done,  becomes  evermore  the  sure 
remedy  for  death  and  the  liability  to  death.  We 
have  but  to  accept  it  as  this,  and  we  find  it  to  be  so- 
The  circumstances  are  not  altered,  they  are  rendered 
innocuous  ;  the  bitter  waters  are  healed  when  the 
cross  of  Christ  is  thrown  into  them.  To  know  that 
in  death,  whether  the  death  of  our  friends  or  our 
own  death,  we  have  Christ  with  us,  as  one  who  has 


I50  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

passed  through  it  Himself,  is  to  have  the  burden  of 
death  lightened,  and  the  venom  of  its  sting  counter- 
acted. For  the  issues  of  the  death  of  Christ  are 
illustrated  to  us  by  the  immediate  incident  which 
followed  it,  The  veil  of  the  temple  was  rent  in  twain, 
from  the  top  to  tJu  bottom.  We  have  this  fact  on 
the  authority  of  three  evangelists,^  it  shews  us  very 
clearly  the  Divine  significance  of  the  Jewish  ritual, 
and  the  completion  of  the  Jewish  system.  It  shewed 
that  the  great  High  Priest  had  passed  through  into 
the  holy  of  holies.  It  shewed  that  he  was  never 
more  to  be  excluded,  that  all  mankind  might  enter 
in  where  He  had  passed.  It  shewed  that  this  was  a 
work  done  by  God  Himself,  because  the  veil  was 
rent  from  the  top  to  the  bottom,  not  from  the 
bottom  to  the  top.  It  shewed  that  there  was  an 
end  to  the  unholy  and  profane,  that  nothing  could 
be  called  common  because  God  had  cleansed  it — that 
in  the  death  of  Christ  the  mysteries  of  God  were  all 
revealed,  that  there  was  nothing  to  shroud  off,  no- 
thing to  conceal,  nothing  to  hide  that  man  could  or 
might  know.  Christ  was  Himself  the  revealer  and 
the  revelation ;  the  death  of  the  living  Redeemer  is  the 
climax  of  revelation,  because  it  shows  us  the  union 
of  all  opposites,  the  highest  and  the  lowest,  the 
eternal  and  the  transient,  the  holiest  and  the  sinful. 
And  then  in  the  death  of  Christ,  we  have  access  to 
the  presence  of  God.  We  have  boldness  to  enter 
into  the  holiest,  by  the  blood  of  Jesus  through  the 

*  Matt,  xxvii.  51 ;  Mark  xv.  38;  Luke  xxiii.  45. 


DEAD. 


new  and  living  way,  which  He  has  consecrated  for 
us,  through  the  veil,  that  is  to  say  His  flesh.^  We 
have  no  further  need  of  any  priest,  or*  any  altar,  or 
any  sacrifice.  The  price  is  paid,  the  sacrifice  is 
offered,  the  atonement  is  completed.  We  may  pass 
through  the  veil  into  the  holiest  of  all.  We  need 
not  stay,  we  must  not  wait  till  we  are  worthy  or 
even  worthier,  but  we  must  draw  nigh  as  we  are, 
and  press  through  the  rent  veil  to  the  sacred  pre- 
sence of  the  Most  High,  and  so  passing  we  shall  find 
that  Christ  hath  made  us  worthy.  Oh,  blessed  issue 
and  result  of  the  death  of  Christ,  which  follows  after 
it  as  soon  as  it  becomes  an  accomplished  fact. 
When  the  great  High  Priest  enters  in,  the  veil  of  the 
temple  which  conceals  the  mysteries  of  God  is  rent 
in  twain  from  the  top  to  the  bottom.  Oh  my 
brethren  and  fellow-sinners,  have  you  felt  the  signifi- 
cance of  this  fact }  There  is  but  one  thing  which  can 
keep  you  back  from  the  presence  of  God,  and  that 
is  sin,  but  sin  cannot  now  keep  you  back,  because  it 
is  done  away  in  the  death  of  Christ.  When  you 
kneel  upon  your  knees  in  secret  you  may  know  that 
there  is  nothing  to  hide  God  from  you,  nothing  to 
destroy  your  communion  with  Him,  nothing  to  mar 
the  fulness  of  access  and  approach  to  His  mercy- 
seat,  because  Christ  hath  died  and  rent  asunder  the 
veil  of  the  tabernacle  which  concealed  the  mercy- 
seat.  It  is  very  sad  to  think  how  many  there  are 
even  of  those  who  profess  and  call  themselves  Chris- 

'  Heb.  X.  19,  20. 


152  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

tians,  who  are  practically  ignorant  of  the  effects  of 
Christ's  death,  and  who  are  totally  unable  to  realise 
the  privilege  of  assured  access  to  God  by  reason  of 
the  perfected  work  of  Him  who  was  dead  and  is 
alive  again,  and  now  liveth  for  evermore.  And  yet 
this  is  the  privilege  which  has  been  purchased  for  us 
by  the  Captain  of  our  salvation.  He  claims  to  have 
done  that  on  our  behalf,  which  we  could  not  do  for 
ourselves,  and  it  follows  that  because  He  has  done 
it.  we  should  thankfully  avail  ourselves  of  what  He 
has  done.  For  the  death  of  Christ  which  is  the 
pledge  of  God's  love  for  us,  and  the  assurance  of 
the  forgiveness  of  sins  is  also  the  foundation  of  our 
hope  towards  God.  We  hide  ourselves  under  the 
shadow  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  the  darts  of  the 
evil  one  cannot  reach  us,  they  fall  short  of  their 
object,  and  glide  off  blunted  and  pointless.  There  is 
no  condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus, 
for  He  is  their  Vindicator  and  Redeemer.  There  is 
this  mysterious  virtue  about  the  death  of  Christ,  that 
it  becomes  the  object  of  grateful  contemplation.  It 
gives  us  no  pain  but  only  pleasure  to  contemplate 
His  death.  In  no  human  instance  can  we  fail  to 
have  our  thankfulness  mingled  with  regret,  beautiful 
as  the  death  may  be.  But  here  in  the  death  of 
Christ  regret  is  unknown,  we  are  not  affected  with 
grief  but  only  with  humble  and  heartfelt  joy.  Surely 
this  is  very  wonderful,  but  nevertheless  it  is  the 
special  characteristic  of  the  death  of  Christ.  But 
strange  to  say,  though  this  characteristic  is  peculiar 


DEAD.  153 


to  the  death  of  Christ,  yet  His  death  has  also  the 
power  of  imparting  it  to  the  death  of  every  Chris- 
tian. We  are  bidden  not  to  sorrow  as  men  without 
hope,  for  them  that  sleep  in  Jesus.  His  death  is  the 
one  atoning,  reconciling,  expiatory  death,  and  in  that 
respect  it  must  stand  alone  ;  but  it  throws  a  halo  of 
glory  over  every  Christian  death,,  for  we  know  of" 
those  who  sleep  in  Jesus,  that  them  will  God  bring 
with  Him.  Christ's  death  therefore  is  not  only  the 
death  of  sin,  and  consequently  the  foundation  of  our 
hope,  but  it  is  also  the  death  of  death.  The  swollen 
waters  of  destruction  reached  their  highest  point 
when  they  overwhelmed  the  Lord  of  Life,  and  thence- 
forward they  began  to  recede.  He  who  holds  in  His 
hands  the  issues  of  life  and  death,  said  to  them, 
*'  Thus  far  shall  ye  come,  but  no  farther ;  and  here 
shall  your  proud  waves  be  stayed."^  They  are 
destined  still  to  accomplish  a  great  work,  for  they 
shall  not  finally  assuage  till  they  have  overwhelmed 
the  whole  family  of  man,  and  have  swallowed  up  the 
generations  yet  unborn,  like  the  generations  that  are 
past,  but  it  is  a  work  as  far  as  believers  are  con- 
cerned, which  is  limited  to  the  present  life  and  the 
yet  visible  world.  Our  friends  vanish  from  our  sight 
here,  they  fall  like  soldiers  in  battle,  who  one  by 
one  drop  out  of  the  ranks,  and  forthwith  another  and 
yet  another  takes  their  place,  but  we  shall  surely  meet 
again  in  that  far-off  mysterious  land  of  which  we 
know  so  little,  for  which  we  long  so  much,  but  which 
*  Job  xxxviii.  11. 


154  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

though  it  seems  to  be  far  off  is  in  reality  very  near, 
as  the  continual  warnings  of  God  evermore  remind 
us.  Be  it  ours,  beloved,  so  to  live  by  the  power  of 
Christ's    death, 

*'  That  so,  before  the  judgment  seat, 
Though  changed  and  glorified  each  face, 
Not  unremembered  we  may  meet 
For  endless  ages  to  embrace."  * 

*  Christian  Year ;  St.  Andrew's  Day. 


XIV. 
BURIED, 

And  that  He  was  buried. — i  CoR.  xv.  4. 

THESE  v/ords  are  remarkable  as  being  found 
in  the  very  brief  summary  of  Christian  truth 
given  by  St.  Paul  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  his 
first  epistle  to  Corinth.  He  mentions  the  burial 
of  Jesus  Christ  as  one  of  the  facts  which  he  had 
received.  Subordinate,  therefore,  and  unimportant 
as  it  may  probably  seem  to  us  to  declare  among 
the  articles  of  the  creed  that  Jesus  Christ  "was 
crucified,  dead,  and  buried"  we  may  nevertheless  be 
sure  that  it  was  not  without  its  meaning  in  the 
providence  of  God,  nor  without  its  essential  place 
in  that  foundation  of  fact  upon  which  the  edifice 
of  Christianity  is  reared,  and  without  which  it  would 
be  nothing  better  than  a  cunningly  devised  fable. 

And  it  is  plain  that  such  a  statement  as  this 
by  St.  Paul  points  to  a  small  nucleus  of  incidents 
connected  with  it  which  were  alike  present  to  his 
own  mind  and  to  those  of  his  correspondents  at 
Corinth.  In  other  words,  the  casual  mention  of 
this  incident  is  no  slight  confirmation  of  the  various 
narratives   which    are    extant    in    the   four  gospels. 


156  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

St.  Matthew  tells  us  that  Joseph  of  Arimathea, 
having  obtained  from  Pilate  the  body  of  Jesus, 
wrapped  it  in  a  clean  linen  cloth  a7id  laid  it  in 
his  own  new  tomb,  which  he  had  hewn  out  in  the 
rock,  and  rolled  a  great  stone  to  the  door  of  the 
sepulchre,  and  departed}  St.  Mark  adds  nothing 
but  that  Joseph  had  bought  fine  linen,  and  taken 
him  down  and  wrapped  him  in  the  linen?  St.  Luke 
merely  states  of  the  sepulchre  that  it  was  one 
wherein  7tever  m.an  before  was  laid ;  that  the  day 
was  the  preparation,  and  that  the  sabbath  drew 
on}  St.  John,  with  the  particularity  characteristic 
of  himself,  tells  us  that  Joseph  was  not  alone  in 
his  kind  offices  to  the  dead,  that  Nicodemus  also 
had  brought  a  mixture  of  myrrh  and  aloes,  about 
a  hundred  pound  weight,  a  circumstance  which  is 
rendered  the  more  probable,  though  the  other  gos- 
pels have  not  mentioned  it,  from  the  obvious  diffi- 
culty that  Joseph  would  have  had  in  disposing  of 
the  body  by  himself :  then  took  they,  continues 
St.  John,  the  body  of  Jesus,  and  bound  it  in  linen 
clothes  with  the  spices,  as  the  m,anner  of  the  Jews 
is  to  bury.  Now  in  the  place  where  he  was  crucified 
there  was  a  garden,  and  in  the  garden  a  new  sepidchre, 
wherein  ivas  never  man  yet  laid,  there  laid  they 
Jesus,  therefore,  because  of  the  Jews'  preparation  day, 
for  the  sepzdchre  was  nigh  at  hand^  The  single 
assertion    of  St.   Paul   at   Antioch    that   when   they 

*  Math,  xxvii.  59,  60.  ^  Luke  xxii.  53,  54. 

*  Mark,  xv,  46.  ^  John,  xix.  39-42. 


BURIED. 


f57 


had  ftdfilled  all  that  was  written  of  Him  they 
took  Him  down  from  the  tree  and  laid  Him  in  a 
sepulchre^  completes  the  entire  bulk  of  that  which 
sacred  tradition  has  preserved  to  us  concerning  the 
matter  of  our  Lord's  burial.  It  is  very  brief ;  but 
brief  as  it  is,  allusion  has  been  made  to  it  in  the 
briefest  and  most  ancient  Christian  creed  which 
remains  thus  embedded  in  one  of  the  Pauline 
epistles.  One  other  reference  to  the  same  event  is 
found,  and  that,  strange  to  say,  in  the  words  of 
our  Lord  Himself.  When  His  feet  were  anointed 
by  Mary,  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  leper,  he  said 
of  her.  For  in  that  she  hath  poured  this  ointment 
on  my  body  she  did  it  for  my  burial :  Against  the 
day  of  my  burying  hath  she  kept  this?  He  therefore 
regarded  His  burial  as  having  a  special  significance, 
and  spoke  of  it  with  a  touch  of  mournful  anticipa- 
tion. Once  also  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
and  once  in  that  to  the  Colossians,  St.  Paul  uses 
the  burial  of  our  Lord  in  a  mystical  and  figurative 
way,  and  speaks  of  our  being  buried  with  Him  by 
baptism  into  deathf  and  buried  with  him  in  baptism.^ 
And  these  I  believe,  from  first  to  last,  are  the  only 
occasions  on  which  mention  is  made  of  our  Lord's 
burial.  If,  then,  the  burial  of  Jesus  Christ  has  been 
thus  recorded  and  referred  to,  but  only  thus  re- 
corded and  referred  to,  what  is  it  designed  to  show } 
First  we  may  reply  that  it  has  its  place  as  a  sub- 

'  Acts  xiii.  29.  '  Rom.  vi.  4. 

2  Matt.  xxvi.  12;  Mark  xiv.  8;  John  xii.  7.  *  Col.  ii.  12. 


158  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

stantial  and  permanent  stone  in  the  substructure 
of  Christian  evidence  :  that  our  Lord  died  is  the 
very  central  point  of  Christian  faith,  the  pivot  upon 
which  everything  else  turns.  And  the  manifest 
concurrent  testimony  which  we  possess  to  the  fact 
of  His  being  buried,  with  the  attendant  circum- 
stances that  have  been  specified,  is  at  all  events 
a  strong  collateral  proof  of  His  death.  Even  sup- 
posing that  life  had  not  been  actually  extinct  at 
the  moment  when  the  body  was  taken  down  from 
the  cross,  as  it  clearly  was  believed  to  be  both  by 
Pilate  and  the  soldiers  who  forbore  to  break  the  legs 
of  Jesus,  yet  after  the  wound  inflicted  by  the  spear 
which  pierced  His  side,  and  the  exhaustion  conse- 
quent upon  the  long  torture  of  the  cross,  it  is 
obvious  that  burial  in  Joseph's  sepulchre  would  have 
been  not  only  most  unfavourable  to  anything  like 
the  restoration  of  vitality,  but  would  have  effectually 
quenched  every  remaining  spark  of  life ;  to  have 
been  immured  for  many  hours  under  such  circum- 
stances would  have  been  nothing  short  of  death 
itself:  and  consequently  the  burial  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  virtually  a  confirmation  of  His  death,  an  evidence 
of  its  reality.  And  being  so,  it  becomes  an  addi- 
tional basis  or  pillar  for  the  resurrection  itself  to  rest 
upon.  It  is  not  only  the  apparent  death  of  Jesus, 
but  the  attendant  circumstances  of  His  burial  that  we 
have  to  account  for  before  we  can  explain  away  the 
evidence  for  His  resurrection.  And  unquestionably 
in  the  providence  of  God  it  was  so  designed. 


BURIED.  159 


This,  however,  is  an  aspect  of  the  matter  which 
may  be  more  or  less  forced  upon  us  by  the  peculiar 
necessities  of  our  own  day.  But  it  is  by  no  means 
the  only  one.  We  must  not  forget  that  the  gospels 
were  not  only  written  by  Jews,  but  that  those  who 
took  part  in  the  transactions  they  record  were  Jews. 
And  we  have  only  to  run  our  eye  through  the  narra- 
tive of  the  Old  Testament,  to  see  how  prominent  a 
feature  the  rites  and  associations  of  burial  formed  in 
Jewish  life.  The  first  commercial  transaction  of 
which  we  have  any  account  in  history  is  that  of 
Abraham  purchasing  a  burial  place  of  the  children 
of  Heth  for  the  interment  of  Sarah  ;  and  the  field  so 
purchased  became  actually  the  only  pledge  which 
for  many  generations  his  seed  possessed  of  their 
inheritance  in  the  land  which  was  promised  to  his 
posterity.^  The  earliest  associations,  therefore,  of 
Israel  with  the  land  of  hope  and  promise  were  those 
of  burial.  The  bones  of  her  who  was  the  first 
mother  of  them  all  were  laid  there.^  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob  were  buried  there,  and  during  the 
long  captivity  in  Egypt  this  link  with  the  eastern 
land  no  doubt  kept  alive  in  the  recollections  of  the 
people  the  promise  which  had  been  made  to  their 
fathers,  and  the  interest  they  themselves  had  in  its 
fulfilment.  Frequently,  also,  we  are  told  the  cir- 
cumstances which  attended  the  burial  of  such  and 
such  a  personage.  The  bones  of  Joseph  were  to  be 
taken  up  out  of  Egypt  that  they  might  rest  in  the 

*  Gen.  xxiii.  «  Gen.  xlix.  29—31 ;  1.  13. 


l6o  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

soil  of  the  ancestral  grave .^    The  very  expression  "to 
be  laid  with  his  fathers,"  indicated  that  burial  among 
the  royal  tombs  which  was  the  common  lot  of  the 
descendants  of  David  in  Jerusalem.     And  though  in 
this  respect  of  burying  the  dead,  the  Jews  were  not 
singular  among   the  nations  of  antiquity  ;  nowhere 
is  there  so  sweet  a  fragrance  arising  from  the  gar- 
lands cast   upon  the   tomb,  as  in   the  narratives  of 
sepulture    which    grace    the    scripture    record.       If, 
therefore,  Jesus  Christ  was  to  take  His  place  in  the 
family  of  man  as  its  prince  and  head  ;  if  He  was  to 
be  the  hope  of  the  kings  and  patriarchs  of  Israel  and 
the  promised    Seed,   it   was  surely  fitting  that  the 
record  of  His  interment  should  find  its  place  in  the 
brief  narrative  of  His  personal  history,     And  so  it 
does.     Nor  is  there  anywhere  among  all  the  annals 
of   sepulture   a   more    exquisite  and   lovely   picture 
than  that  which  has  been  given  us  of  the  burial  of 
the  Lord.      Nowhere  is  death  so  beautiful,  and  the 
very  tomb  so  chaste  and  lovely  as  it  is  at  the  cross 
of  Jesus,  and  in  the  sepulchre  hewn  out  in  the  rock  in 
Joseph's  garden,  wherein  never  man  before  was  laid. 
And  there  was  surely  special  and  abundant  room 
for    the    kind   of   glorification   which   the  burial    of 
Jesus  was  designed  to  bestow.      Death  is  an  event 
sufficiently    terrible    and    appalling    in    itself      But 
surely  it  is  not  only  the  loss  which  is  involved  in 
death  that  constitutes  its  chiefest  terror,  but  much 
rather  all  that  follows  death.     The  bitterest  draught 

*  Gen.  1.  25 ;  Josh.  xxiv.  32. 


BURIED.  i6i 


of  that  very  bitter  cup  is  the  sad  necessity  which 
hides  for  ever  features  that  perhaps  were  only  beau- 
tiful, and  at  least  were  only  loved  ;  the  thought 
that  we  who  love  so  dearly,  would  not  for  the  whole 
world  gaze  on  that  once  angelic  form  of  childhood, 
or  of  youth,  or  it  may  be  of  old  age;  the  busy, 
ruthless  touch  and  step  of  perfunctory  and  inevitable 
service,  which  tries  to  be  sympathetic  but  can 
scarcely  be  less  than  hateful  ;  the  wicked  para- 
phernalia of  woe  that  attend  the  departure  from 
the  home,  and  the  passage  to  the  grave,  and  all 
the  long  etceteras  of  grief  and  pain  that  are  remem- 
bered but  cannot  be  expressed ;  it  is  these  that 
make  death  itself  more  painful  and  the  grave  to  be 
fraught  with  horror.  Yes,  it  is  not  the  act  of  dying, 
or  of  seeing  our  loved  ones  die,  that  concentrates  the 
bitterness  of  death,  but  much  more  the  untold  and 
unexplored  awfulness  of  the  grave.  To  be  buried 
at  sea  with  the  wave  for  our  winding-sheet,  and  the 
howling  of  the  tempest  for  our  dirge,  or  to  be  buried 
in  haste  as  we  fall  upon  the  battle-field,  that  is  a 
thought  endurable ;  but  to  be  carried  by  hired  mourn- 
ers to  the  crowded  cemetery,  and  to  be  laid  to  our 
dust  with  a  parade  of  misery  is  indeed  a  thought  most 
miserable.  We  can  face  the  thought  of  dying,  for 
die  we  must,  and  we  hope  that  to  die  will  be  to  fall 
asleep  ;  but  oh  !  to  be  buried  with  all  which  that 
by  the  exigences  and  conventionalities  of  an  odious 
civilisation  is  made  to  imply,  that  is  something 
which  we  dare  not  contemplate. 

II 


i62  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED, 

But  with  the  recollection  of  Christ's  burial  there 
is  a  marvellous  alleviation    even  of  the   horrors  of 
the   tomb.     For   not   only   is   the   story  of  Christ's 
burial,  as  I  have  said,  most  pure  and  lovely,  without 
one  element  of  painful   association  ;  not  only  is  the 
story  beautiful,  but  how  exquisite  also  is  the  memory 
of  the  fact, — He  was  buried.      His  dead  body  was 
laid  in  the  tomb  in  the  cerements  of  death  ;  it  was 
wrapped   in   fine   linen  with   myrrh  and   aloes  ;   the 
fragrance  of   the   spices    filled    the    sepulchre ;   and 
there    His    body   rested    in    silence    and    in    dark- 
ness, keeping  its  Sabbath  amid  the  sweetness  of  the 
spices  within,  and  surrounded  by   the  fragrance  of 
the  vernal  flowers  without,  awaiting  the  resurrection 
morn.     Was  there  ever  any  grave  like  that  ?     Most 
certainly   not.     No   peaceful   nook   in   the  sweetest 
and  most  lovely  of  English  churchyards,  themselves 
the  loveliest  resting-places   of   the  dead   that   any- 
where   exist,     can    compare     with     that,     the    new 
sepulchre  hewn  out  in  the  virgin  rock  in  the  deepest 
recesses    of   Joseph's  garden.       Verily  here,   at  any 
rate,  the  grave  itself  is  despoiled  of  all  its  terror.     If 
He  was  buried,  we  need  not  shrink  from  going  down 
into  that  tomb  where  He  has  kindled  once  for  all 
the  light  of  the  resurrection.    Behold  then  the  simple 
dignity  which  attaches   to   these  solemn  words   we 
rehearse  in  the  Creed,  "And  buried."     Well  might  the 
great   apostle   not   omit   from   his   short  and   rapid 
summary  of  Christian  fact  the  statement  which  he 
also  had  received,  and  add  that  He  was  buried. 


BURIED.  163 


For,  take  away  this  blessed  assurance  and  what 
have  we  left  ?  The  darkness  and  horror  of  the 
tomb  unmitigated,  unenlightened,  unsoftened,  and 
therefore  unendurable.  Take  away  even  the  story, 
and  you  have  robbed  universal  literature  of  one  of 
its  purest  and  brightest  jewels  ;  but  take  away  the 
fact  which  the  story  perpetuates,  and  you  have 
robbed  humanity  of  the  one  only  thought  which 
can  lend  courage  to  the  heart  in  the  prospect  of  our 
own  descent  into  the  pit  of  corruption,  which  can 
give  those  who  mourn  the  loss  of  their  nearest  and 
dearest  and  strew  flowers  on  their  grave,  the  vestige 
even  of  a  hope. 

For  just  as  the  sting  of  all  horror  connected  with 
death  is  centred  in  the  thought  of  corruption,  so  is 
there  the  spring  of  all  hope  in  the  memory  of  the 
ancient  words  which  were  fulfilled  in  Chrst,  Thoii, 
wilt  not  suffer  thine  Holy  One  to  see  corruption}  Jesus 
Christ  tasted  death  for  every  man  ;  He  went  down 
into  the  tomb  that  He  might  once  and  for  all  take 
out  of  it  that  association  with  corruption  which  is 
so  unutterably  painful.  He  has  strewed  the  fra- 
grance of  myrrh  and  spices  over  the  chill  and  dark 
recesses  of  the  grave;  He  has  put  into  it  what  did 
not  exist  before,  and  now  there  is  peace  where  there 
once  was  terror,  and  sweetness  where  there  once  was 
only  the  memory  of  corruption. 

The    circumstances    of   Christ's    burial    have    not 
seldom  been  made  the  vehicle  of  a  mystical  interpre- 

*  Ps.  xvi.  10 ;  Acts  ii.  27 ;  xiii.  35. 


i64  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

tation;  for  instance,  the  body  of  the  Lord  is  to  be 
laid  up  in  a  pure  and  virgin  heart  and  surrounded 
with  the  fragrant  associations  of  hallowed  thoughts, 
and  the  fine  white  linen  of  saintly  action  and  the 
like.  But  I  am  averse  from  this  kind  of  treatment, 
because  to  my  mind  it  savours  of  unreality,  and  there 
is  a  danger  when  we  begin  to  allegorise  lest  we 
break  down  the  stonework  of  solid  and  substantial 
fact  v/hich  must  after  all  be  found  to  be  sooner  or 
later  our  only  hope.  The  burial  of  Jesus  Christ  was 
an  historic  fact,  if  it  was  not  this  it  was  nothing ;  but 
being  an  historic  fact  it  was  only  one  incident  out  of 
many  in  His  human  career,  and,  like  other  incidents, 
it  was  necessarily  transient  and  of  a  limited  duration. 
Jesus  Christ  did  die  and  He  was  buried,  but  He  is 
not  dead  now  nor  does  He  still  rest  in  the  grave. 
The  body  of  the  Lord  is  the  centre  and  fountain  of 
eternal  life.  We  do  not  worship  a  dead  Christ,  but 
one  who  is  alive  for  evermore  :  let  us  beware  then 
how  far  we  allegorise  the  story  of  our  Lord's  burial, 
whether  with  reference  to  the  sacrament  of  His  death 
or  otherwise.  Though  in  the  communion  of  His 
body  and  His  blood  we  do  show  the  Lord's  death 
till  He  come,  yet  that  sacrament  is  emphatically  the 
pledge  and  evidence  and  memorial  of  the  resurrec- 
tion. We  are  only  partakers  of  Jesus  Christ  in 
proportion  as  we  are  partakers  of  His  life.  The 
dead  Christ  would  profit  us  nothing,  even  though  we 
could  grasp  Him  in  our  hands  or  clasp  Him  in  our 
arms,  and  carry  Him  with  Joseph  and  Nicodemus  to 


BURIED.  165 

the  sepulchre  in  the  garden.  What  we  want  is  the 
present  evidence  and  power  of  Christ's  eternal  life, 
and  that  is  only  to  be  had  by  faith  in  His  life.  No 
allegories  or  minute  directions  of  devout  behaviour 
or  injaginary  repetitions  of  the  scenic  accidents  of 
Christ's  death  can  avail  to  give  us  life — that  is  only 
to  be  had  by  the  quickening  influence  of  the  Spirit 
of  life. 

There  is,  however,  another  mode  of  allegorising  the 
burial  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  has  the  authority  of  St. 
Paul,  and  it  is  a  healthier  one.  He  compares  the 
one  momentary  fact  of  our  baptism  to  the  transient 
and  historic  fact' of  Christ's  burial.  He  tells  us  that 
we  have  been  buried  with  Christ  by  baptism  into 
death.  That  which  corresponds  in  our  history  to 
the  burial  of  Jesus  Christ,  once  for  all  never  to  be 
repeated,  a  whole  in  itself  and  the  completion  of  all 
that  went  before  it,  is  our  baptism.  We  were  buried, 
figuratively  at  all  events  by  immersion,  virtually  by 
the  analogous  act  of  sprinkling,  which  blotted  out  all 
the  past  and  originated  all  the  future  and  the  new, 
with  Christ  in  our  baptism.  When  the  body  of 
Jesus  was  immured  in  the  tomb,  that  was  the  last 
that  was  seen  of  His  natural  body,  for  it  was  raised 
a  spiritual  body,  a  change  indescribable  and  incon- 
ceivable passed  over  it.  There  was  an  end  to  all 
the  past  of  royal,  prophetic,  patriarchal  hope  and 
longing.  There  was  the  commencement  given  of  all 
the  future,  incorruptible,  undefiled  and  that  fadeth 
not  away,  the  inauguration  of  all  life,  and  progress, 


i66  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

and  eternity,  and  rejuvenescence,  and  deathlessness. 
So  is  it  in  the  fact  that  is  symbolised  in  Christian 
baptism,  which  is  itself  a  symbol  of  Christ's  burial — it 
is  a  single  act  of  which  the  consequences  are  un- 
alterable and  permanent,  if  only  the  significance  of  it 
which  abides  in  Christ  Himself  and  not  in  the  rite 
He  has  ordained  is  apprehended.  We  look  to 
Christ  and  we  find  that  our  sins  are  buried  in  His 
burial,  there  is  no  more  condemnation  as  there  is  no 
more  death — ransomed,  pardoned,  healed,  restored, 
we  have  cast  off  once  and  for  ever  the  old,  we  have 
put  on  once  and  for  ever  the  new.  We  are  among 
those  who  have  been  washed,  and  having  been  once 
washed  to  the  purifying  of  the  heart  and  conscience 
by  the  bloodshedding  of  Christ  which  can  never  be 
repeated,  we  have  no  need,  save  from  time  to 
time,  to  wash  our  feet  from  the  dust  and  mire  of 
occasion  and  convention,  but  are  glean  every  whit, 
and  with  the  help  and  reliance  of  a  sinless  and  ever- 
living  Christ  we  may  go  from  strength  to  strength, 
until  we  appear,  each  one  of  us,  before  the  God  of 
gods  in  the  heavenly  and  eternal  Zion. 


XV. 

HE  DESCENDED  INTO  HELL. 

Therefore  being  a  prophet,  and  knowing  that  God  had  sworn  with 
an  oath  to  him,  that  of  the  fruit  of  his  loins,  according  to  the  flesh,  He 
would  raise  up  Christ  to  sit  on  his  throne ;  He  seeing  this  before 
spake  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  that  his  soul  was  not  left  in  hell, 
neither  his  flesh  did  see  corruption. — Acts  ii.  30,  31. 

^  I  ^HE  descent  of  our  Lord  into  hell  is  the  subject 
-^  of  a  distinct  article  of  the  Church  of  England. 
"As  Christ  died  for  us  and  was  buried,  so  also  it  is  to  be 
believed  that  He  went  down  into  hell:"^  to  which,  in 
the  prayer-book  of  1552,  there  was  added,  "  For  His 
body  lay  in  the  sepulchre  until  the  resurrection,  but 
His  Spirit,  which  He  gave  up,  was  with  the  spirits 
which  were  detained  in  prison,  or  in  hell,  and  preached 
to  them  as  the  place  in  St.  Peter  testifieth."  The 
passage  referred  to  is  i  Peter  iii.  18-20,  being  put  to 
death  in  the  fleshy  but  quickened  in  the  Spirit^  by 
which  also  He  went  a7td  preached  unto  the  spirits  in 
prison;  which  sometime  were  disobedient^  when  once 
the  longsuffering  of  God  waited  in  the  days  of  Noahy 
while  the  ark  was  preparing^  wherein  few,  that  is,  eight 
souls  zvere  saved  by  water.  And  in  illustration  of 
this  passage,  we  must  add  that  other  in  the  following 

'  Art.  iii. 


i68  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 


chapter.  For  for  this  cause  was  the  gospel  preached 
also  to  them  that  a7'e  dead,  that  they  might  be  judged 
according  to  ine7i  in  the  flesh,  but  live  according  to 
God  in  the  Spirit,^  and  possibly  also  the  words  of  St. 
Paul,  Eph.  iv.  9,  Now  that  He  ascended,  what  is  it 
but  that  He  also  descended  first  into  the  lower  parts  of 
the  earth.  These  several  passages,  together  with 
that  from  the  Psalms,  which  is  quoted  in  the  text, 
make  up  all,  or  nearly  all,  that  is  told  us  in  Holy 
Scripture  of  that  which  we  profess  when  we  say  He 
descended  into  hell.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  in 
the  ten  years  which  followed  the  promulgation  of 
the  earlier  article,  a  considerable  change  had  taken 
place  in  men's  minds,  as  is  indicated  by  the  omission 
of  the  second  clause  referring  to  the  passage  in  St. 
Peter.  That  omission  can  only  be  explained  by  a 
growing  dislike  to  retain  anything  which,  whether 
rightly  or  wrongly,  was  thought  to  give  any  possible 
countenance  to  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory.  Since 
that  memorable  year,  1562,  men  have  gone  on 
reciting  the  article  in  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  sub- 
scribing to  that  in  the  Prayer-book,  as  though  no 
modification  in  their  belief  had  taken  place  in  the 
three  hundred  and  ten  years,  although  a  modification 
so  important  had  been  registered  in  the  previous  ten 
years.  Some  persons,  also,  I  believe,  are  staggered 
by  the  assertion  in  the  Apostles'  Creed  that  Christ 
descended  into  hell,  and  have  been  for  generations 
past.  And  although  it  seems  to  me  that  this, 
'  I  Pet.  iv.  6. 


HE  DESCENDED  INTO  HELL.  169 

among  many  others,  is  a  very  trivial  ground  on  which 
to  separate  from  the  outward  oneness  of  Christ's 
body  in  this  land,  it  may  be  as  well  to  give  our 
attention  for  a  brief  space  to  the  article  of  belief  in 
question,  since  it  comes  under  our  notice  in  the 
natural  order  of  these  discourses. 

The  first  point  then,  to  be  resolutely  maintained 
here,  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  Hell.  St.  Peter's 
statement  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  which  is  very 
important,  and  must  be  allowed  to  interpret,  or  at  least 
to  throw  light  upon  his  words  in  the  Epistle,  is  based 
entirely  upon  the  declaration  of  David  in  the  sixteenth 
Psalm.  It  must,  therefore,  be  limited  in  its  meaning 
by  the  necessary  limitation  of  David's  own  words. 
Now  David's  own  words  about  his  soul  not  being 
left  in  hell  cannot  possibly  contain  any  reference  to  a 
condition  or  place  of  torment,  from  the  simple  fact  that 
there  is  no  word  in  the  language  of  the  Old  Testament 
which  bears  that  meaning.  People  go  on  reciting 
the  verse  in  the  Psalms,  The  wicked  shall  be  turned 
into  helly  and  all  the  people  that  forget  God}  and  think 
that  they  are,  or  at  least  the  Psalmist  is,  denouncing 
a  terrible  doom  upon  such  persons,  and  fancy,  more- 
over, that  if  it  is  not  so,  a  very  povverful  restraint 
will  be  withdrawn  from  evil  action,  and  that  sinners 
will  be  encouraged  in  their  wickedness.  It  is  sad 
in  these  days  of  enlightenment,  first,  that  so  much 
ignorance  of  the  real  meaning  of  the  Psalmist's 
language  should  prevail ;  and  secondly,  that  people 
^  Ps.  ix.  17. 


170  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

should  be  apprehensive  as  to  the  possible  consequences 
of  a  knowledge  of  the  truth,  and  should  acquiesce 
in  the  perpetuation  of  ignorance,  rather  than  recognise 
a  truth  for  fear  it  should  act  as  an  encouragement 
to  sin.  Surely,  we  may  say  that  this  is  nothing  less 
than  unworthy  cowardice — let  us  at  all  hazards  seek 
to  know  the  truth,  believing  heartily  that  we  can  know 
nothing  better,  and  believing  also  that  it  is  abun- 
dantly capable  of  taking  care  of  itself,  for  that  the 
truth  is  great,  yea,  greater  than  all,  and  that  it  will 
prevail.  The  meaning,  then,  of  the  Hebrew  word 
Sheol,  which  is  necessarily  used  in  both  these  passages, 
is  sufficiently  declared  by  the  patriarch  Jacob,  when 
he  says,  /  will  go  down  into  the  grave  unto  my  son 
motirning}  and  the^i  shall  ye  bring  down  my  grey  hairs 
with  sorrow  to  the  grave?  It  is  this,  and  nothing 
more  than  this,  that  David  expresses  when  he  says, 
TJie  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  helly  and  all  the  people 
that  forget  God.  For  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in 
hell,  neither  wilt  Thou  suffer  Thine  Holy  One  to  see 
corruption.  If  we  choose  to  infer  from  such  language 
that  in  the  Psalmist's  mind  there  was  no  difference 
between  the  death  of  the  righteous  and  the  death  of 
the  wicked,  that  inference  is  one  for  which  we  alone 
are  responsible,  and  not  the  language  he  has  used, 
an  inference,  also,  which  is  directly  negatived  by  the 
prayer  of  Balaam  centuries  before,  Let  me  die  the 
death  of  the  righteous,  and  let  my  last  end  be  like 
his,  to  say  nothing  of   the  irrepressible  dictates  of 

*  Gen.  xxxvii.  35.  ^  Gen.  xlii.  38. 


HE  DESCENDED  INTO  HELL.  171 

the  universal  conscience  of  mankind.  We  may  rest 
assured  that  we  greatly  err  when  we  suppose  that 
we  can  place  any  other  more  effectual  or  salutary 
restraints  to  vice  than  those  which  are  placed  in  the 
eternal  instincts  of  the  human  conscience.  It  was 
no  part  of  the  revelation  of  the  gospel  to  chain 
fetters  on  the  conscience,  but  rather  to  give  it  perfect 
freedom,  in  order  that  it  might  serve  God  acceptably, 
with  reverence  and  godly  fear.  It  is  no  part  then 
of  the  teaching  of  Scripture  that  after  death  the  soul 
of  our  blessed  Lord  was  the  subject  of  torment,  nor 
does  the  Creed  teach  us  to  believe  this  when  it  tells 
us  that  He  descended  into  hell.  On  the  other  hand, 
those  who  quarrel  with  the  teaching  of  the  Church 
must  quarrel  also  with  the  teaching  of  Scripture, 
because  if  it  was  true  of  Christ  that  His  soul  was  not 
left  in  hell,  it  is  obvious  that  it  must  first  have  gone 
down  into  hell. 

Again,  some  ground  for  the  preposterous  notion 
that  Jesus  Christ  endured  a  foretaste  of  the 
torments  of  hell  is  found  in  the  equally  erroneous 
conception  which  prevails  as  to  the  nature  of  His 
atonement.  It  is  conceived  that  God,  by  the  re- 
quirements of  His  infinite  justice,  was  pledged  to 
the  eternal  punishment  of  all  the  saved,  unless 
Christ,  as  an  infinite  substitute,  had  been  found 
willing  to  endure  an  equivalent  amount  of  torment 
in  their  place  ;  but  as  the  torment  of  hell  can  only 
be  endured  in  hell,  and  as  the  torture  of  the  body 
can  never  be  an  equivalent  for  the  torment  of  the 


172  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

soul,  therefore,  if  He  was  to  redeem  His  people 
from  hell,  He  must  Himself  go  down  into  hell,  and 
then  the  infinite  value  of  His  soul  would  add  an 
infinite  value  to  His  sufferings,  even  though  in 
duration  they  were  limited.  I  need  not  say  how 
contradictory  any  such  awful  notion  is  to  the  nar- 
rative which  we  considered  on  Sunday  last  of  our 
Lord's  burial,  as  well  as  to  the  universal  silence  of 
Scripture  on  the  subject,  and  to  the  notion  which, 
at  least,  was  countenanced  by  the  appointment  of 
the  fourth  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  as 
one  of  the  lessons  for  Easter  eve,  that  the  rest  of 
the  Mosaic  Sabbath  w^as  typical  of  the  rest  of  Christ 
in  the  grave. 

Rejecting,  then,  all  such  notions  of  our  blessed 
Lord's  work  as  no  part  of  the  authentic  teaching  of 
Scripture,  let  us  pass  on  to  enquire  what  is  meant 
by  the  article  in  question.  I  believe  the  key  to  the 
true  understanding  of  our  Lord's  redemptive  work 
is  to  be  found  in  those  words  from  the  epistle  just 
mentioned.  Forasmuch  then  as  the  children  are  par- 
takers of  flesh  and  bloody  He  also  Himself  likewise 
took  part  of  the  same  ;  that  through  death  He  might 
destroy  him  that  had  the  power  of  deaths  that  is,  the 
devil}  In  other  words,  the  basis  of  our  Lord's 
redemptive  work  was  laid,  not  in  vicariousness  of 
suffering,  but  in  identity  of  nature.  In  Him  there 
was  to  be  a  revelation  of  humanity ;  He,  in  fact, 
was  to  be  the  one  pattern  and  type  man  to  whom 

'  Heb.  ii.  14. 


HE  DESCENDED  INTO  HELL. 


73 


the  creation  of  Adam  looked  forward.  WJierefore 
in  all  things  it  behoved  Hi^n  to  be  made  like  unto 
His  brethren  ;^  and,  It  beca^ne  Him,  for  whom  are  all 
things,  and  by  ivhom  are  all  things,  in  bringing  many 
sons  tmto  glory,  to  make  the  Captain  of  their  salvation 
perfect  through  sufferings?  As,  therefore,  identity  of 
nature  was  the  basis  of  His  work,  so  also  was  that 
work  to  be  carried  out  by  complete  identity  of  con- 
dition with  man.  Man  dies  as  a  sinner ;  Christ  died 
as  the  chief  of  sinners,  for  He  was  numbered  with  the 
transgressors.^  Man  is  laid  in  the  grave  and  turns 
again  to  his  dust ;  Christ  also  was  laid  in  the  grave, 
but  the  Scripture  had  said  that  He  should  not  see 
corruption,  and  should  triumph  over  death.  As, 
however,  the  turning  to  corruption  is  not  an  essential 
part  of  death,  although  a  necessary  and  universal 
consequence  of  death,  and  as  corruption  is  that  from 
which  we  yearn  to  be  delivered,  so  Christ,  as  the 
redeemer,  brought  back  His  body  from  the  grave, 
and  did  not  see  corruption.  But  it  is  not  all  of 
death  to  die  and  see  the  grave,  for  that  is  the 
accident  or  condition  of  the  body  alone.  Where  is 
the  vital  spark  of  immortality  when  the  body  gives 
up  its  animal  life }  We  know  not,  for  Scripture  has 
not  told  us  ;  the  language  of  the  Old  Testament 
calls  its  place  or  state  sheol,  that  is  to  say,  the  con- 
dition in  which  we  ask  after  our  lost  ones,  Where 
are  they }   or,  according  to   others,   the   all-craving 

'  Heb.  ii.  17.  ^  Isa.  liii.  12;  Mark  xv.  28. 

2  Heb.  ii.  10. 


174  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

and  devouring  abyss  which  insatiably  demands  the 
whole  of  the  human  race.  It  seems  better  then  to 
conceive  of  this,  which  is  called  in  our  Scripture 
language  the  grave  or  the  pit,  as  a  state  rather  than 
a  place,  inasmuch  as  it  appears  more  consonant  with 
the  nature  of  spiritual  existence  to  predicate  condi- 
tion of  it  than  place.  The  spirit  even  in  the  body 
is  not  bound  by  the  limitations  of  space  or  place, 
much  less  when  disenchained  and  disentangled  from 
the  body ;  but  the  spirit,  when  so  enfranchised,  is  in 
an  unknown  state,  and  that  state  may  be  one  of 
incipient  weal  or  woe.  We  simply  know  nothing 
about  it,  for  Scripture  has  told  us  nothing,  and 
science  with  all  its  boasted  acumen  and  knowledge 
of  the  secrets  of  nature  can  discover  nothing,  for  the 
mystery  lies  hid  deep  in  that  impenetrable  land, 

"  That  undiscovered  country,  from  whose  bourne 
No  traveller  returns." 

But  we  know  thus  much,  that  Christ  died  exclaim- 
ing. Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit ;^ 
and  we  are  certainly  led  to  believe  that  the 
condition  of  our  Lord  was  different  at  His  death 
from  what  it  was  at  His  resurrection  ;  and  different 
at  and  after  His  resurrection  from  what  it  was  on 
His  ascension,  and  from  what  it  has  been  ever 
since  and  is  now.  There  remains,  therefore,  the 
mysterious  interval  between  His  death  and  His 
resurrection  to  account  for.  Where  was  His  human 
soul  then  t  or  more  accurately,  what  was  the  con- 

'  Luke  xxiii.  46. 


HE  DESCENDED  INTO  HELL.  175 

dition  of  His  human  soul  then  ?     It  was  in  hell,  for 
He  descended  into  hell;  there  where  Jacob  said  he 
should  go  down  to  his  favourite  son;   there  where 
David  said  he  should  meet  his  infant  child  ;  ^  there 
where  the  dead  are  gone,  and  there  where  we  shall  go. 
And  I  cannot  speak  of  this,  my  friends,  without  a 
few  brief  words  of  tribute  to  the  memory  of  those  two 
eminent  Christians  of  Switzerland  and  Spain,  Pronier 
and  Carrasco,  who  were  called  to  a  watery  grave  but 
a  few  days  back,  in  that  ill-fated  Atlantic  steamship.^ 
They  were  noble  servants  of  Christ  among  the  very 
noblest  who  met  in  those  happy  meetings  in  New 
York   in   October  last.      Carrasco  was   the  head    of 
the  evangelical  movement  in  Spain,  and  had  suffered 
persecution  for  his  attachment   and  loyalty  to    the 
Word  of  God.      Pronier  was  a  young  man  of  ardent 
and  simple  faith.      They  are  gone  to  their  rest,  for 
their  work  was  done  ;  but  I,  who  crossed  the  same 
ocean  but  a  month  before,  on  my  return  from  the 
same  mission  as   theirs,  have  been    mercifully   pre- 
served and  snatched  from    peril    in  which  one  was 
taken  and  another  left.     Why }     Because  my  work 
is  not  yet  done.     I  have  yet  work  to  do  for  God 
and  for  Christ,  and  may  the  life  which  has  thus  been 
spared    be    evermore    consecrated    to   the   energetic 
doing  of  His  work  ;  for  whether  ive  live  we  live  unto 
the  Lord,  and  whether  we  die  zve  die  tmto  the  Lord ; 
whether  we  live,  therefore,  or  die,  we  are  the  Lord's? 

*  2  Sam.  xii.  23.  '  Rom.  xiv.  8. 

*  The  Ville  du  Havre  sunk  Nov.  22,  1873. 


176  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

But  while  we  linger  here  we  cannot  forbear  to  ask, 
Where  are  our  loved  ones  gone — where  do  they  go  ? 
And  the  only  answer  we  can  give  is  derived  from  our 
Lord's  own  words  to  the  dying  thief,  To-day  shalt 
thou  be  with  Me  in  paradise}  That  is  where  Christ 
went,  He  tells  us  Himself;  that  is  where  the  peni- 
tent thief  went ;  it  was  where  Christ  was.  The 
whole  subject  is  impenetrably  dark,  and  human 
language  cannot  enlighten  it,  because  human  thought 
cannot  pierce  it ;  but  we  know  that  when  we  say 
He  descended  into  hell,  we  confess  that  Christ  our 
Lord,  as  the  perfect  and  true  man,  submitted  to  fulfil 
all  the  conditions  of  deceased  humanity.  His  body 
was  in  the  grave,  His  soul  was  in  paradise,  that  is, 
in  hell,  in  a  state  of  incipient  bliss  ;  not  such  as  He 
in  His  manhood  was  to  enjoy  subsequently,  but  one 
which  was  antecedent  and  preliminary  to  it. 

This  is  what  we  mean  when  we  say  that  Christ 
descended  into  hell.  The  term  is  indeed,  unfor- 
tunately a  most  ambiguous  one,  and  the  American 
Prayer-book  has  prefixed  to  the  Apostles'  Creed  this 
rubric  :  "  Any  churches  may  omit  the  words  '  He 
descended  into  Hell,'  and  may  instead  of  them  use 
the  words,  *  He  went  into  the  place  of  departed 
spirits,'  which  are  considered  as  words  of  the  same 
meaning  in  the  Creed."  Notwithstanding,  however, 
this  permission,  I  never  heard  any  American  con- 
gregation avail  themselves  of  the  option  given, 
although    the   tendency   of   that  prayer-book   is    to 

^  Luke  xxiii.  43. 


HE  DESCENDED  INTO  HELL,  I'j'j 

remove  as  far  as  possible  every  supposed  blemish 
arising  from  archaic  or  antiquated  language.  It 
seems  to  me  that  to  speak  of  i\iQ  place  of  departed 
spirits  is,  for  another  reason  already  specified,  no  less 
objectionable  than  to  speak  of  hell  in  this  accepta- 
tion. 

What  Christ  did  when  His  soul  had  descended 
into  hell  it  is  idle  to  speculate.  St,  Peter's  language 
certainly  seems  to  intimate  that  our  Lord's  mission, 
as  the  first  and  great  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  was 
not  accomplished  when  He  died.  There  were  those 
waiting  for  His  mercy  in  Paradise  who  were  eager  to 
receive  it.  The  patriarchs,  prophets,  and  psalmists, 
who  like  Abraham  and  David  had  seen  His  day 
before  He  came,  and  who  were  in  Sheol,  Hades,  or 
Hell,  would  be  the  first  to  hail  the  glad  message  of 
salvation  accomplished  and  wrought  out  which  He 
thus  was  the  first  to  bring  them.  This  was  to  Him 
the  rest  of  the  holy  sabbath,  that  antitypical  period 
of  rest  which  His  body  was  keeping  in  the  grave, 
and  to  which  every  sabbath  had  looked  forward 
since  the  tnorning  stars  sang  together,  a?td  all  the 
sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy}  This  may  be  so — we 
know  not  and  cannot  tell,  and  it  is  useless  to  en- 
quire ;  and  we  need  not  desire  to  know.  Before 
very  long  the  mystery  will  be  revealed  to  each  of  us. 
It  is  one  of  the  surest  tokens  of  the  Divine  Gospel, 
that  it  has  not  ministered  to  a  vain  spirit  of  specu- 
lation.    It  gratifies  no  idle  hunger  of  curiosity.      It 

•  Job  xxxviii.  7. 

12 


178  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

deals  with  facts,  with  facts  which  contain  in  them- 
selves the  resolution  of  all  mysteries,  which  are  the 
incipient  germ  of  future  and  complete  knowledge. 

And  the  great  facts  which  it  reveals  are  these,  that 
Christ,  as  the  Divine  Son  of  the  eternal  Father,  has 
entered  into  all  the  conditions  of  our  mortal  or  fallen 
humanity,  saving  only  that  of  personal  guilt,  on 
account  of  sin  committed,  but  not  excepting  that  of 
personal  consciousness  of  sin  in  consequence  of  in- 
tense sympathy  and  complete  identification  with  the 
sinner.  He  has  suffered  hunger,  thirst,  weariness, 
weakness,  pain,  loneliness,  desolation,  desertion  by 
God,  the  hiding  of  His  face,  which  is  the  very  bitter- 
ness of  death.  He  has  gone  through  the  conditions 
of  this  low  estate  in  which  we  are  dwelling  now, 
and  He  has  encountered  death  and  explored  all  the 
mysteries  of  the  undiscoverable  state,  the  darkness 
and  solitude  of  the  tomb,  the  shadowy  visions  of  the 
shadowy  world  where  the  spirits  rest,  as  it  were,  in 
prison  ;  in  a  state  of  inchoate  and  incipient  joy, 
waiting  for  the  dawning  of  the  resurrection  morn, 
when  they  shall  come  forth  in  glorious  array,  a 
mighty  and  triumphant  army,  glistening  like  the 
dew-drops  of  returning  day,  and  reflecting  each  the 
likeness  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  the  undying 
and  victorious  Captain  of  their  salvation. 


XVI. 

THE    THIRD  DAY  HE    ROSE    AGAIA 
FROM   THE  DEAD. 

And  that  He  rose  again  the  third  day  according  to  the  Scriptures. 
— I  Cor.  XV.  4. 

nr^HIS  statement,  which  also  forms  part  of  the 
•^  early  creed  preserved  to  us  by  St.  Paul,  agrees 
in  word  as  well  as  in  substance  with  that  in  the 
Nicene  Confession,  while  it  differs  from  the  article 
in  the  Apostles'  Creed  by  the  addition  of  the 
words  "according  to  the  Scriptures."  That  addi- 
tion is  a  very  important  one,  and  it  is  not  a  little 
significant  that  it  is  found  in  the  apostle's  letter 
to  Corinth. 

We  come,  then,  at  last,  to  the  fundamental  and 
characteristic  fact  of  the  Christian  faith.  For  a  long 
time  we  have  been  dealing  with  events  which  were 
not  only  transacted  in  the  sphere  of  ordinary  life, 
but  which  did  not  transcend  the  limits  of  ordinary 
experience.  This  was  the  case  when  we  said  that 
"Jesus  Christ  suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate,"  that  "  He 
was  crucified,  dead,  and  buried."  Nor  was  it  essenti- 
ally otherwise,  when  we  confessed  that  "  He  descended 
into  hell,"  for  the  significance  of  His  descent  into  hell 


i8o  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

was  His  conformity  with  the  conditions  of  ordinary- 
mortal   existence.     But   now  we   take   leave   of  the 
ordinary,  the  human,  the  experimental.     Now  we  ap- 
proach, enter  into,  and  deal  with  the  extraordinary, 
the  supernatural,  the  Divine.      It  is,  then,  with  the 
Christian  faith,  as  it  was  with  the  ladder  that  Jacob 
saw    in  vision,  which  was  established  on  the  earth, 
while  the  top  of  it  reached  to  heaven.     The  foun- 
dation  of  Christianity  is  laid  in  the    earth    in    the 
natural,  the  human,  the  temporal  :  but  having  esta- 
blished and  planted  itself  there,  it  does  something 
more,   it   rises   into   heaven,   and   takes   us   with   it. 
Unlike   the   ancient  tower  which  was  built  on   the 
plains  of  Shinar,  by  which  men  sought  to  reach  the 
heavens  but  failed  hopelessly,  as  they  always  must, 
this  was  a  tower  raised  by  God,  having  its  foundation 
deep  in  the  earth,  but  with  its  summit  penetrating 
the  heavens.      It   is,  therefore,  what   from   the  first 
mankind    felt  the  want  of.     It   gives   exactly  that 
which    is     confessedly    desirable    and    desired,    and 
which  is   continually  being  sought  after  in  one  way 
or  another,  even  when  its  own  way  is  rejected.      If 
the   headstone  of  the    corner  is   refused,  it    is  only 
refused  that  another  stone  may  be  taken  in  its  place. 
Men  cannot  do  without  stones  to  build  with  ;   it  is 
only  a  question  as  to  the  choice  of  the  fittest  and 
the  best. 

We  must,  therefore,  by  no  means  hide  from  our- 
selves the  nature  of  the  territory  which  we  are 
now  entering.     It  is  not  of  this  world,  it  is  not  of 


•  THE  THIRD  DAY  HE  ROSE  AGAiy.  i8r 

the  earth  earthy,  and  therefore  not  of  the  perishing 
perishable.  We  must  resist,  as  the  most  unfair  and 
insidious  of  all  endeavours,  the  attempt  to  represent 
the  cardinal  truth  we  are  now  to  contemplate,  as  a 
mere  distortion  of  the  natural  and  the  ordinary, 
a  mere  accommodation  to  the  thirst  for  the  super- 
natural and  the  marvellous.  We  start  therefore  with 
this  question,  Can  any  rational  being  think  it  probable 
for  one  moment  that  the  writers  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment did  not  themselves  believe,  and  intend  their 
readers  to  believe,  that  Jesus  Christ,  their  master, 
having  been  dead  was  raised  to  life  again,  that  His 
body  having  been  extinct  of  vitality  was  restored  to 
animation  .?  If  any  one  can  suppose  that  probable 
there  is  an  end  to  all  argument.  But  as  it  is  abso- 
lutely impossible  that  we  can  have  misunderstood 
the  disciples  in  this  respect,  it  is  the  more  incumbent 
upon  us  to  look  the  matter  simply  in  the  face,  and 
to  resolve  that  we  will  not  be  the  victims  of  any 
deception  or  special  pleading  or  word-juggling  on 
the  subject.  What  we  have  to  concern  ourselves 
with  is  the  obvious  belief  that,  the  body  of  Jesus 
Christ,  having  been  actually  dead,  and,  in  popular 
language,  severed  from  His  soul,  which  was  "in  hell," 
was  as  actually  by  His  own  Divine  power  raised 
to  life  again,  how  of  course  we  do  not  presume  to 
say ;  it  is  a  supernatural  fact  that  we  have  to  treat,  a 
bo7id  fide  miracle,  and  nothing  less  than  the  greatest 
of  all  miracles,  though  at  the  same  time,  if  a  fact,  a 
miracle  which  sheds  a  flood  light  over  history,  and 


i82  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

nature,  and  life,  and  science,  and   the  whole  world  of 
the  miraculous. 

And,  brethren,  terrible  as  it  is,  we  must  regard 
the  subject  in  this  light,  because  there  are  senti- 
ments propounded  by  so-called  Christians  in  the 
present  day  which  deliberately  endeavour  to  ex- 
plain away  the  Lord's  resurrection,  to  represent  that 
which  is  a  miracle — or  it  is  nothing — as  no  miracle 
at  all. 

I  wish,  then,  to  guard  myself  most  carefully 
against  all  possible  misinterpretation,  and  to  state 
plainly  what  I  desire  to  be  understood  as  plainly 
— that  in  the  creed  of  Christianity  we  confess  that 
the  human  body  of  the  Lord  of  life  was  actually 
raised  to  life  again  after  having  been  dead ;  that 
^  it  was  not  merely  that  the  disciples  thought  they 
saw  the  Lord,  and  thought  they  talked  with  Him, 
and  thought  they  ate  and  drank  with  Him  after  He 
rose  from  the  dead  ;  that  it  was  not  merely  their 
senses  that  were  imposed  upon,  but  that  a  truth 
answering  accurately  to  those  impressions  of  their 
senses  had  really  taken  place  in  the  word  of  fact 
and  nature. 

So,  brethren,  let  us  clearly  understand  each  other. 
This  is  what  you  profess  to  believe,  this  is  what  I 
have  to  enlarge  upon  and  to  maintain  ;  and  it  is, 
with  all  its  stupendous  difficulties  and  contradictions, 
what  I  deliberately  believe  when  I  deliberately  re- 
peat those  words  of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  "  the  third 
day  He  rose  again  from  the  dead." 


THE  THIRD  DAY  HE  ROSE  AGAIN.  183 

You  see,  then,  that  though  the  character  of  the 
facts  which  the  Creed  asserts  is  altogether  changed, 
yet  they  are  not  changed  in  regard  to  their  being 
facts.  Christianity  requires  us  to  beUeve  that  it  is 
as  much  a  fact  that  Jesus  Christ  rose  again  from 
the  dead,  as  it  is  that  He  was  born,  or  died,  or  was 
buried  :  these  are  what  we  may  call  natural  facts, 
that  is  a  supernatural  fact  ;  both  took  place  in  the 
world  of  nature  ;  but  this  fact,  though  it  took  place 
in  the  world  of  nature,  altogether  transcended  the 
limits  of  that  world  :  it  not  merely  seemed  to  trans- 
cend them,  but  it  actually  did  so.  In  the  resurrection, 
then,  of  the  Lord  of  glory,  there  was,  just  as  there 
had  been  at  His  birth,  a  new  exceptional  fact  intro- 
duced into  the  category  of  historic  occurrences  ;  a 
fact  which,  had  it  been  possible  for  science  to  be 
cognizant  of  it,  science  itself  would  have  been  bound 
to  register,  so  that,  in  the  report  of  the  transactions 
of  such  and  such  a  society,  we  should  have  had  it 
recorded  that  on  such  a  day,  at  such  an  hour,  and 
in  such  a  place,  a  particular  man  who  had  been 
dead  was  acknowledged  on  sufficient  and  satisfactory 
evidence  to  have  been  raised  again,  or  to  have  raised 
himself  again,  to  life.  Let  there  be  no  mistake 
about  it.  This,  and  nothing  less  than  this,  is  the 
direct  statement  of  the  Scriptures  ;  this,  and  nothing 
less  than  this,  is  the  professed  belief  of  Christendom. 
If,  therefore,  on  this  count  the  Scriptures  are  not 
reliable,  they  are  a  dead  letter;  if  here  they  are 
worthy  of  credit,  then,  in  this  respect  alone,  waiving 


1 84  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

all  Others,  they  are  different  from  the  reports  and 
blue-books  of  all  scientific  and  statistical  bodies, 
inasmuch  as  they  do  record  a  fact  which  confessedly 
no  scientific  body  has  ever  had  to  record,  and  which, 
in  fact,  we  know,  as  the  Scriptures  themselves  give 
us  to  understand,  that  no  scientific  body  will  ever 
have  to  record. 

It  is,  brethren,  verily  a  stupendous  statement. 
But  I  do  not  see  that  there  is  any  getting  out  of 
it.  This,  and  nothing  less  than  this,  it  was  which 
gave  the  impulse  to  the  spread  of  Christianity  in 
the  first  age  of  the  Church,  and  caused  the  desert 
of  the  Roman  world  and  of  Roman  civilisation  to 
rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose. 

Nor  must  we  let  our  expressions  of  belief  in  this 
cardinal  fact  take  the  form  of  self-revenge,  which 
is  not  seldom  discernible  in  the  case,  for  example,  of 
bigoted  Romanists,  who  will  maintain  a  belief  in 
the  most  monstrous  statements  simply  because  they 
trample  upon  soul  and  sense,  and  because  there  is 
a  kind  of  self-gratification  in  so  triumphing  over  self. 
Doubtless  we  must  confront  miracle  somewhere, 
and,  if  anywhere,  we  must  confront  it  in  the  resur- 
rection of  our  Lord ;  but  it  is  not  merely  for  the  sake 
of  confronting  it  that  we  do  so.  A  miracle  merely  as 
a  miracle  is  a  worthless  thing  to  contemplate,  nay, 
it  is  even  a  pernicious  thing.  And  therefore  it  was 
that  our  Lord  was  always  so  careful  to  place  even 
His  own  miracles  in  their  proper  position  and 
aspect;  to  represent  them  only  as  parts  of  a  whole, 


THE  THIRD  DAY  HE  ROSE  AGAIN.  185 

as  elements,  ingredients,  and  items  that  had  their 
use  in  confirmation  of  moral  and  spiritual  truth,  but 
which  were  by  no  means  to  be  confounded  with  that 
truth.  It  is  so  with  His  own  resurrection  :  let  us 
by  all  means  allow  that  it  transcends  the  earthly, 
and  exceeds  the  natural,  and  belies  the  ordinary  ; 
but  let  us  not  turn  it  into  an  idol  of  the  cave,  a 
kind  of  mental  fetish,  and  worship  it  for  its  own 
sake,  or  for  the  sake  of  worshipping  it.  Let  us 
remember  that  the  resurrection  of  Christ  was  the 
highest  and  most  expressive  symbol  of  the  life 
which  was  in  Him,  and  that  it  is  in  and  by  that 
life,  expressed  as  His  resurrection  expresses  it,  that 
we  must  live,  and  not  by  the  mere  confession  of  an 
outward  fact  which  may  after  all  leave  us  lifeless 
and  dead.  It  is  in  Christ  the  Life  who  Himself  rose 
from  the  dead  that  we  are  to  believe,  and,  it  may 
be,  because  He  rose  from  the  dead  ;  but  not  in  our 
own  bare  and  barren  belief  that   He  so  rose. 

And  surely,  brethren,  you  will  at  once  see  that 
this  makes  a  vast  difference,  if  we  start  with  the 
moral  and  spiritual  conviction  that  there  is  a  life 
which  is  stronger  than  death,  absolutely  separate 
from  death,  and  into  which  death  cannot  enter,  which 
conviction  may  itself  serve  as  an  index  of  our  own 
spiritual  constitution  to  show  whether  we  are,  so  to 
say,  physically  capable  of  becoming  Christians  ;  if, 
I  say,  we  start  with  this  conviction, — and  I  believe 
there  are  some  who  have  it  not, — and  start  also  with 
the  further  conviction  that  such  a   life  can   be  per- 


l86  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

sonally  embodied    in   a   man,   then   it   becomes   not 
only  easy,  but  we  may  even  say  natural,  that  the  life 
so  embodied  should  surrender  itself  to  death  for  the 
express  purpose  of  utterly  throwing  off  death.     And 
this   is  what  we  believe   Christ  did.      He  was  not  a 
mere  unit  out  of  the  innumerable  units  of  humanity, 
who  alone  of  all  of  them  did  the  unnatural  and  im- 
possible thing,  rise  again  from  the  dead,  but  being  in 
His  personality  as  a  true  man  the  One  man  who  was 
fore-ordained  to  bring  life  into  this  dying  world.  He 
Himself  was  found  willing  to  die  in   order  that   He 
rilight  cast  out  death  from  them  who  were  willing  to 
accept  His  life.     Looked  at  in  this  light,  approached^ 
if  we  may  so  say,  from  this  direction,  and  from  this 
quarter,  the  resurrection  of  the   Lord  Jesus  becomes 
but    the   part,   albeit   possibly   the   chief  part,   of  a 
mighty    whole ;  but    one    which   is   essential,   indis- 
pensable, conformable  in   some  sense  even  to  nature, 
and    most    undeniably   consonant   with   reason.       If 
Jesus  Christ  was  this,  then  it  is  no  wonder  that   He 
rose  again  from  the  dead ;  but  the  greatest  and  most 
impossible  wonder  of  all  would  have  been  that   He 
should  not   rise,  that   Death   should   have   had  final 
dominion  over   Him.     Death  was   His  creature.   He 
was  its   Lord.     The   resurrection  showed   unmistak- 
ably the  relation  of  the  creature  to  the  Lord,  and   if 
you  get  rid  of  the  resurrection  of  the   Lord  Jesus, 
then  you  get  rid  of  the  abstract  superiority  of  life  to 
death  ;  you  have  the  enjoyable  prospect  before  you 
of  death  without  end  as  the  ultimate  lord  of  all,  as 


7 HE  THIRD  DAY  HE  ROSE  AGAIN.  187 

the  goal  of  all  existence,  and  the  extinction  of  all 
personal  hope. 

And  here  it  was  that  the  apostles  had  such  a 
marvellous  vantage-ground  on  which  to  place  the 
engines  wherewith  they  were  to  move  the  world. 
They  had  the  conception  of  a  Christ  to  work  with,  a 
conception  which  was  a  unique  fact  in  the  history 
of  the  world,  just  as  much  as  the  republic  of  Rome 
or  Athens  was  a  fact.  They  had  this  conception,  the 
abstract  possibility  of  the  existence  of  such  a  person  \ 
in  the  national  mind  of  Judaism,  and  even  in  the 
national  mind  of  Greece  and  Rome,  and  having  this 
conception  it  became  comparatively  easy  for  Peter  to 
tell  the  multitudes  from  all  nations  assembled  in 
Jerusalem  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  that  God  had 
raised  up  Christ,  having  loosed  the  pains  of  death, 
because  it  was  not  possible  that  He  should  be  holden 
of  it.^  There  was  an  appeal  here,  in  the  minds  of 
those  men,  to  a  sense  of  what  was  fit  and  natural, 
and  they  could  not  help  seeing  it.  And  therefore 
they  accepted  the  resurrection  as  being  itself  the  key 
to  many  mysteries  which  would  be  unsolved  without 
it,  as  explaining  more  than  it  required  to  be  explained, 
as  proving  the  confirmation  and  evidence  of  a  hope 
which  without  it  could  never  be  proved,  and  which 
must  vanish  in  despair. 

Nor  was  it  otherwise  with  St.  Paul.  In  writing  to 
Corinth  he  could  say  of  Christ,  the  ideal  man,  that 
He  rose  again    the  third   day  according  to  the    Scrip- 

'  Acts  ii.  24. 


i?8  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

tures.  Had  it  not  been  for  those  Scriptures  the 
resurrection  of  Christ  would  simply  have  taken  its 
place  among  the  exceptional,  and  abnormal,  and 
highly  irregular  facts  of  science,  and  observation,  and 
experience,  which  could  only  establish  its  claim  to 
be  accepted  according  as  the  evidence  advanced  was 
or  was  not  deemed  satisfactory  by  the  individual  to 
whom  it  was  presented.  But  seeing  that  there  were 
written  documents  of  vast  antiquity,  which  had  been 
the  cause  of  remarkable  anticipations  being  cherished 
and  maintained,  not  only  by  the  Jewish  nation,  but 
by  the  world  at  large,  in  which  it  was  affirmed,  for 
example,  as  we  read  this  morning,  that  the  Lord  God 
would  szvallow  tip  death  in  victory,  and  wipe  away  tears 
from  off  all  faces  ;^  or,  as  we  shall  read  this  evening, 
Thy  dead  men  shall  live^  together  with  my  dead  body 
shall  they  arise :  awake  and  sing,  ye  that  dwell  in 
dust,  for  thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of  herbs,  and  the  earth 
shall  cast  out  the  dead  i'^  we  can  readily  understand 
the  fulfilment  of  the  sequel,  It  shall  be  said  in  that 
day,  Lo  this  is  our  God,  we  have  zuaited  for  Him  and 
He  will  save  ns ;  this  is  the  Lord,  we  have  waited 
for  Him,  we  will  be  glad  and  rejoice  in  His  salva- 
tion? 

For,  given  this  preliminary  faith  in  the  Divine 
word;  given  those  natural  yearnings  and  irrepressible 
hopes  to  which  even  that  word  appealed,  it  became 
then  not  a  mere  dilettante  abstract  question   as  to 

'  Isa.  XXV.  8.  ^  Isa.  xxv,  9. 

*  Isa.  XX vi.  19. 


THE  THIRD  DA  V  HE  ROSE  AGAIN.  189 

whether  or  not  God  could  or  would  or  should  raise 
the  dead,  but  whether  or  not,  under  the  special  and 
highly  exceptional  circumstances  of  this  particular 
case,  as  one  part  of  the  far-reaching  and  elaborate 
plan  of  a  mighty  and  gigantic  whole,  and  as  the  ful- 
filment of  an  ancient  promise  which  was  confirmed 
by  the  oath  of  God,  He  had  raised  the  dead  ; — it 
became  then  a  question  as  to  whether  or  not  that 
word  could  fail,  and  whether  or  not  the  resurrection 
of  Christ  had  once  for  all  fulfilled  it. 

And  this,  my  brethren,  is  our  position  now.  We 
have,  to  take  one  instance,  those  magnificent  chap- 
ters of  Isaiah  which  are  the  customary  spiritual  food 
and  sustenance  of  Advent.  We  can  see  for  ourselves 
what  it  is  they  proclaim.  They  need  no  commen- 
tary to  enable  us  to  take  in  their  broad  and  patent 
message,  for  whatever  obscurities  we  may  find  in 
them— and  they  are  many — they  are  after  all  so 
plain  that  it  is  as  if  they  were  engraven  upon  rocks, 
that  he  who  runs  may  read  them  while  he  runs, 
without  a  pause  or  break.  And  of  these  we  know, 
as  a  matter  of  undeniable  fact,  that  they  were  written 
for  centuries  before  Christ  came.  They  tell  us,  then, 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  what  it  is  the  Lord  will  do — 
not  brute  nature  or  blind  chance — but  what  God,  the 
living  God,  and  the  Lord  of  nature,  will  do  for  dying 
man.  The  only  question  then  for  us  to  determine 
is.  Will  He  do  it,  and  has  He  done  it  1  If  Christ  is 
risen  He  has  done  it,  and  He  will  do  it  again.  If 
Christ  is  not  risen,  then  we  not  only  have  to  do  vio- 


IQO  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

lence  to,  in  order  to  explain  away,  all  the  varied  tissue 
of  converging  evidence  which  shows — and  for  ages 
has  been  understood  to  show — that  He  did  rise  again 
from  the  dead  ;  but  we  have  this  inexplicable  fact  to 
account  for — the  existence  for  long  ages  of  written 
testimony  which  declared  that  after  the  Lord's  ser- 
vant had  been  led  as  a  sheep  to  the  slaughter,  and 
had  made  His  soul  an  offering  for  sin,  He  should  see 
His  seed  and  should  prolong  His  days,  while  the  plea- 
sure of  the  Lord  should  prosper  in  His  hand;^  as  well 
as  this  other  undeniable  fact,  that  upon  the  authority 
of  this  testimony  to  persons  who  knew  it  had  not  been 
fulfilled,  but  anticipated  its  fulfilment,  the  Apostles 
went  forth,  proclaiming  that  Jesus  had  risen  from  the 
dead  the  third  day  according  to  the  Scriptures,  and 
declared  Him  on  this  ground  to  be  the  Christ;  and 
that  on  their  testimony  He  was  accepted  as  the 
Christ  and  the  world  became  Christian,  because  men 
had  in  their  hands  the  cypher  and  the  key  to  it,  the 
impression  and  the  seal  which  corresponded  to  it,  and 
because  without  this  fact  the  cypher  was  a  cypher 
still,  and  the  impression  was  a  thing  of  chance,  on 
which  the  stamp  of  no  seal  had  come. 

*  Isa.  liii.  7,  lO. 


XVII. 
THE    THIRD    DA  Y  HE    ROSE    AGAIN  FROM 
THE  DEAD. 

And  that  He  rose  again  the  third  day  according  to  the  Scriptures.-— 
I  Cor.  XV.  4. 

A  SUBJECT  like  that  of  our  Lord's  resurrection 
-^^^  may  well  be  allowed  to  occupy  us  for  a  longer 
period  than  some  others,  and  there  were  points  upon 
which  we  did  not  touch  in  the  last  discourse.  When, 
for  example,  it  is  said  that  He  rose  again  the  third 
day  according  to  the  Scriptures^  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  proclamation  of  any  such  fact  receives 
additional  testimony  when  it  is  shown  that  for  ages 
before  Christ  came  it  had  been  distinctly  promised 
in  Isaiah  that  the  earth  shotdd  cast  out  the  dead} 
It  might,  of  course,  be  affirmed  that  such  language 
was  merely  poetical  and  was  not  to  be  taken  literally; 
but  when  an  historic  fact  is  declared  to  have  taken 
place  in  literal  agreement  with  such  language,  it  may 
surely  be  required  not  only  to  disprove  the  fact,  but 
also  to  show  cause  why  the  language  should  not  be 
taken  literally  before  it  is  disproved.  And  if,  for  a 
variety  of  reasons,  there  is  ground  for  accepting  the 
fact,  a  strong  presumption  is  under  the  circumstances 

^  Isa.  xxvii.  19. 


192  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

thereby  created,  that  the  language  of  the  prophet 
spoken  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  was  to  be  under- 
stood to  the  fulness  of  its  possible  meaning.  I  do 
not  wish  to  imply  that  these  words,  the  earth  shall 
cast  out  the  dead,  are  those  upon  which  alone  or 
principally  I  should  rest  the  antecedent  probability  of 
our  Lord's  resurrection,  but  that  they,  among  many 
others,  vividly  illustrate  the  general  truth  exem- 
plified by  His  resurrection. 

The  words  of  the  text,  however,  are  joined  with 
others  already  commented  upon,  aiid  that  He  was 
buried ;  and  the  expression,  according  to  the  Scriptures, 
may  be  reasonably  interpreted  as  applying  to  both. 
The  question  then  occurs,  To  what  is  it  that  this  ex- 
pression does  refer }  Is  it  to  our  Lord's  burial  and 
His  resurrection  alone,  or  is  it  to  His  resurrection 
the  third  day  >  Does  the  apostle  mean  to  say  that 
had  He  lain  in  the  grave  more  than  three  days  the 
Scripture  would  have  been  broken — that  had  He 
lain  there  less  it  would  not  have  been  fulfilled  ? 
or  is  he  content  merely  with  the  more  general 
statement  that,  by  His  resurrection  from  the  dead, 
the  Scriptures  were  fulfilled  1  The  question  is  by 
no  means  an  unimportant  one  in  the  present  day, 
because  it  bears  directly  upon  the  manner  in  which 
the  Scriptures  are  to  be  regarded.  If,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  Christ  our  Lord  in  minute  particulars 
fulfilled  the  Scriptures  and  was  careful  to  do  so, 
then  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  such  minute 
attention   to  them  is  important  and  even  required. 


THE  THIRD  DAY  HE  ROSE  AGAIN.  193 

And  thus  the  Scriptures  are  raised  to  a  some- 
what different  level,  and  one  in  which  these  smallest 
particulars  are  worthy  of  our  consideration.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  we  may  rest  content  with  a  mere 
vague  and  general  agreement  with  their  spirit,  then 
they  remain  upon  a  lower  elevation,  and  one  on 
which  they  approximate  more  nearly  to  the  ordinary 
literature  of  mankind.  Here  it  may  be  enough  to 
say  that  the  pervading  spirit  of  the  Old  Testament 
and  the  New  are  alike  ;  that  one  is  nothing  more, 
than  the  higher  manifestation  of  the  other,  and  that 
the  one  was  commended  to  mankind  because  it  was 
not  altogether  original  but  had  been  partly  antici- 
pated of  old  .If,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  evidence 
that  St.  Paul  assumed  a  different  ground  from  this, 
and  if  from  the  representations  of  the  Evangelists 
there  is  proof  that  our  Lord  did  also,  then  we  can 
hardly  fail  to  conclude  that  this  view  of  the  ancient 
Scriptures  was  not  only  that  which  was  taken  by 
themselves,  but  also  that  which  they  were  desirous 
to  commend  to  us.  And  I  think  from  the  way  in 
which  the  writer  says,  mid  that  He  rose  again  the 
third  day  according  to  the  Scriptures^  he  does  mean 
to  be  understood  to  say,  that  Christ  not  only  rose 
from  the  dead  according  to  the  Scriptures,  but  that 
His  rising  the  third  day  was  anticipated  by  them 
and  fulfilled  them.  Let  it  be  observed,  then,  that  I 
am  not  now  advancing  St.  Paul's  opinion  as  binding 
upon  ourselves,  but  only  endeavouring  to  ascertain 
what    that    opinion    was.     How    far    it    may_be   a 

'Uiri7ERSITn 


194 


THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 


rule  for  us  is  a  subsequent  consideration;  we  want 
now  to  determine  what  it  was,  and  if  possible  to 
justify  it. 

Assuming  then  that  he  believed  Christ's  rising 
from  the  dead  on  the  third  day  was  expressly 
provided  for  by  the  Scriptures,  what  were  the 
Scriptures  to  which  he  referred?  First,  I  think,  we 
may  reply  with  certainty  the  i6th  Psalm,  For  thotc 
wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  hell ;  neither  wilt  thou  suffer 
thine  Holy  One  to  see  corruption.  This  Psalm  had 
been  in  existence  for  ages.  St.  Peter  had  shown 
before  that  understanding  David's  language,  as  the 
LXX  had  understood  it,  of  corruption,  it  was  impos- 
sible that  that  language  could  apply  to  him.  If, 
therefore,  it  had  any  meaning  at  all,  it  must  apply  to 
someone  else,  and  he  asserted  that  it  applied  to 
Christ.  But  if  the  Lord  would  not  suffer  His  Holy 
One  to  see  corruption,  doubtless  a  limit  was  assigned, 
by  the  very  choice  of  that  expression,  to  the  time 
which  His  human  body  could,  in  the  course  of 
nature,  be  held  by  the  grave.  Probably  in  such  a 
climate  as  that  of  Palestine  three  days  would  be  this 
limit,  and  if  so,  the  language  of  Scripture  would 
demand  that  the  resurrection  of  Christ  should  not  be 
longer  delayed,  supposing  that  language  should  be 
rigidly  adhered  to.  An  antecedent  probability 
existed,  therefore,  in  prophecy,  that  Christ  should  rise 
from  the  dead  within  such  a  time  that  His  natural 
body,  left  to  itself,  would  have  succumbed  to  the 
operation  of  natural  law.     But  out  of  the  mass  of 


THE  THIRD  DAY  HE  ROSE  AGAIN.  195 

the  prophetic  writings,  who,  before  the  fact,  could 
have  anticipated  such  an  event  as  probable  ?  Verily 
no  one.  And  it  is  precisely  in  this  inherent  impro- 
bability that  the  strength  of  the  proclamation  lay, 
when  it  was  shown  to  be — as  it  clearly  was — in  ac- 
cordance with  the  Scriptures.  It  is  futile  to  maintain 
afterwards  that  David's  language  could  have  had  no 
reference  to  Christ,  and  yet  profess  to  accept  the 
resurrection,  because  here  is  the  statement  which,  at 
all  events  when  thus  interpreted,  corresponds  exactly 
with  the  fact.  We  may  deny  the  fact,  but  we  cannot 
deny  it  on  the  ground  that  it  failed  to  justify  the 
language.  We  may  deny  the  possibility  of  the 
Psalmist's  language  referring  to  Christ,  but  we  cannot 
deny  the  coincidence  of  correspondence  between  the 
two.  And  this  coincidence  becomes  the  more  re- 
markable, and  acquires  indeed  a  degree  of  indepen- 
dent, strength,  when  we  see  that  to  them  who  were 
most  familiar  with  the  language,  the  fact  of  its 
correspondence  with  the  event  came  home  with  the 
force  of  irresistible  conviction.  Granting  the  neces- 
sity that  the  Scriptures  must  be  fulfilled,  here  was 
their  fulfilment.  Now  they  had  a  depth  of  meaning 
which  they  never  had  before,  and  which  they  could 
not  have  till  the  time  that  they  should  be  fulfilled 
had  come  ;  but  after  the  arrival  of  that  time,  and 
the  course  of  events  had  thrown  a  flood  of  light 
upon  them,  it  was  too  late  to  say  that  their 
original  capacity  for  any  such  meaning  was  a 
mistake. 


196  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

There  was,  however,  another  wonderful  prophetic 
book,  which  had  been  in  existence  for  many  cen- 
turies, whatever  its  origin  and  however  it  had  been 
interpreted.  This  book  was  the  narrative  of  a 
reluctant  prophet,  who  was  charged  with  a  message 
that  he  refused  to  deliver,  who  became  the  prey 
for  three  days  and  nights  of  a  sea-monster,  and 
was  saved  by  a  mighty  salvation,  in  order  to  exe- 
cute the  office  which  had  been  entrusted  to  him, 
and  who,  by  his  discharge  of  it,  became  the  means  of 
preserving  alive  the  inhabitants  of  a  heathen  city, 
which  was  second  to  none  among  the  great  cities  of 
the  ancient  world.  We  are  told  on  the  authority  of 
St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke  that  our  Lord  used  the 
history  of  this  prophet  as  a  parable  of  His  own,  de- 
claring that  the  sign  of  the  prophet  Jonas  was  the 
only  sign  that  should  be  given  to  the  men  of  that 
generation,  and  saying,  according  to  St.  Matthew, 
that  as  Jonas  was  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the 
whale's  belly. ^  so  the  Son  of  Man  should  be  three  days 
and  three  nights  in  the  heart  of  the  earth}  Here, 
then,  it  is  probable  that  we  have  the  Scripture 
authority  for  the  third  day.  More  than  three  days 
the  letter  of  Scripture  did  not  demand  ;  anything 
less  than  the  third  day  would  have  been  in  violation 
of  it.  We  are  told,  moreover,  on  the  high  autho- 
rity of  Lightfoot,  that  a  portion  of  three  days 
could    be    spoken  of   in  the    Jewish  acceptation  as 

Matt.  xii.  40. 


THE  THIRD  DAY  HE  ROSE  AGAIN,  197 


three  days,  and  there  are  in  Biblical  language  exam- 
ples of  such  a  method  of  computation  ;  so  that  the 
resurrection  on  the  third  day  has  become  an  integral 
part  of  the  Christian  Creed.  Christ  having  been 
buried  on  the  Friday,  having  rested  in  the  grave  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  having  risen  from  the  dead  on  the 
first  or  Lord's  day,  was  in  the  heart  of  the  earth  a 
portion  of  three  several  days,  and  rose  from  the  dead 
the  third  day.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  our  Lord 
intended  a  very  much  closer  parallel  to  be  observed 
between  Himself  and  Jonah  the  prophet  than  the 
minor  one  of  the  three  days  and  nights.  However 
the  history  of  that  prophet  was  regarded  by  the  men 
of  his  time,  there  it  was  as  a  substantive  portion  of 
their  literature.  It  recorded  a  marvellous  deliver- 
ance. Even  if  the  record  were  not  taken  as  history, 
which  it  undoubtedly  was,  that  would  necessitate  its 
being  taken  as  a  parable,  and  that  would  further 
necessitate  a  meaning  being  found  for  the  parable. 
What  was  its  meaning  >  No  one  could  say.  Christ's 
resurrection  would  provide  a  meaning,  and  such  a 
meaning  as  nothing  else  could  give.  The  prophet, 
moreover,  had  spoken  of  his  own  deliverance  as  a 
deliverance  from  the  belly  of  hell,  or  Sheol.  Out  of 
the  belly  of  hell  cried  /,  and  Thou  heardest  my  voice} 
Christ  was  to  be  delivered  from  the  jaws  of  hell,  be- 
cause it  was  not  possible  that  He  should  be  holden 
of  its  pains.     But  above  all  as  Jonah's  message  was 

'  Jonah  ii.  2, 


198  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

only  fruitful  after  his  resurrection,  so  Christ's  mes- 
sage would  go  forth  with  far  greater  success  after 
His  resurrection  than  before  it ;  and  as  the  preaching 
of  Jonah  had  a  great  effect  upon  the  Gentile  city  of 
Nineveh,  so  the  gospel  of  Christ  would  have  a  success 
among  the  Gentiles  that  it  lacked  among  the  Jews, 
and  thus  become  a  sign  to  the  men  of  that  genera- 
tion, as  the  prophet  had  been  to  the  men  of  His  own. 
There  is  yet  another  passage,  occurring  in  Hosea, 
that  was  probably  remembered  in  this  same  connec- 
tion :  Come  a7td  let  us  rettirn  unto  the  Lord,  for  He 
hath  torn  and  He  will  heal  us  ;  He  hath  smitten  and 
He  will  bind  us  up.  After  two  days  will  He  revive  us, 
in  the  third  day  He  will  raise  us  up,  and  we  shall  live 
in  His  sight}  What  was  the  primary  meaning  of 
the  prophet  here  it  is  impossible  to  say,  but  given  a 
general  reference  to  Christ  in  the  scriptures  of  the 
prophets,  it  is  not  hard  to  discover  room  for  a  special 
one  here.  If  all  the  promises  of  God  in  Christ  are 
Yea,  and  Amen,  we  can  nowhere  find  this  promise 
so  fulfilled  as  in  the  resurrection  of  His  Son  the 
third  day.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  here  we  have  the 
aggregate  of  those  Scripture  passages  out  of  which, 
and  out  of  which  alone,  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  resur- 
rection the  third  day  could  have  been  constructed. 
This  was  the  kind  of  foundation  the  disciples  had 
to  build  upon,  if  they  were  so  minded  to  invent  the 
story  of  their  Master  rising  again.  It  must  be  con- 
fessed not  a  very  hopeful  and  promising  one  ;  nay,  we 

*  Hosea  vi.  i,  2. 


THE  THIRD  DAY  HE  ROSE  AGAIA.  199 

may  confidently  say  it  was  not  one  that  could 
possibly  have  suggested  itself  to  such  men,  prior  to 
the  fact ;  but  after  the  fact  had  occurred  we  may 
readily  perceive  that  the  correspondence  between  it 
and  the  written  monuments  of  Scripture  was  much 
closer  than  could  have  been  supposed  or  anticipated, 
and  being  so  close,  we  can  understand  why  it  was 
that  St  Paul  taught  the  Corinthians  that  Jesus  Christ 
rose  from  the  dead  the  third  day  according  to  the 
Scriptures.  We  must  not  forget  however,  that  of 
this  very  message  here  summarised  he  says,  /  de- 
livered unto  you  that  which  I  also  received.  He  throws 
us  back  therefore  on  One  beyond  Himself,  and  we 
know  who  that  is. 

We  know,  moreover,  that  it  was  our  Lord's  habit 
to  teach  His  disciples  that  the  Scriptures  referred  to 
Him,  and  were  fulfilled  in  Him.  We  cannot  say 
that  we  know  anything  of  our  Lord's  teaching,  if  we 
may  not  determine  that  He  taught  thus  ;  and  even 
in  the  solemn  moments  verging  on  His  agony  and 
death,  we  find  Him  saying,  Thinkest  thou  that  I  can- 
not now  pray  to  my  Father,  and  He  shall  presently 
give  more  than  twelve  legiojts  of  angels,  but  how  then 
shall  the  Scriptures  be  fulfilled  that  thus  it  must  be  ?^ 
These  were  not  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testa- 
mant,  but  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old.  They  were  the 
very  identical  ancient  documents  of  the  Jews,  which 
we  now  have  in  our  hands,  and  which  are  so  vehe- 
mently assailed   in  the  present   day.     It   is  impos- 

*  Matt.  xxvi.  53,  54. 


THE  CHRISTIAA   CREED. 


sible,  then,  for  us  not  to  see  that  both  our  Lord  and 
His  apostles  assign  to  these  Scriptures  a  degree  of 
authority  and  certainty  which  must  be  maintained 
intact,  if  their  own  language  is  not  to  be  rejected. 
This  is  one  of  the  landmarks  by  which  we  must 
direct  our  course.  It  cannot  be  that  we  are  to  re- 
gard these  Scriptures  in  such  a  light  as  will  make  it 
incompetent  for  them  to  be  the  inviolable  writings 
which  Christ  represented  them  to  be.  On  the  con- 
trary, we  are  clearly  warranted  in  saying,  there  is 
that  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament 
which  made  them  the  vehicle  of  a  special  Divine 
message  to  man,  and  which  still  makes  them  so, 
notwithstanding  men's  rash  and  destructive  conclu- 
sions with  respect  tt)  them.  And  seeing  that  these 
conclusions  are  oftentimes  based  upon  conjecture 
and  not  at  all  upon  demonstration,  it  is  they  that 
must  suffer  themselves  to  be  corrected  by  our  Lord's 
teaching,  and  not  our  Lord's  teaching  that  must  be 
made  to  yield  to  them.  If  there  was  any  reason 
whatever  for  His  continually-expressed  conviction,  to 
call  it  by  no  higher  term,  that  the  Scriptures  referred 
to  Him,  then  they  could  only  do  so  because  they 
were  instinct  with  a  Divine  life  and  fraught  with  a 
special  Divine  blessing.  It  was  not  fortuitous  that 
David  had  spoken  as  he  did  in  the  i6th  Psalm  ;  it 
was  not  fortuitous  that  the  history  (or,  if  you  will, 
even  the  legend)  of  the  prophet  Jonah  had  been 
preserved,  that  it  existed  in  the  Jewish  literature 
and  was  classed   among  the  twelve  minor  prophets, 


THE  THIRD  DA\  HE  ROSE  AGAIN. 


recording    a   marvellous    deliverance   for   a  no    less 
marvellous  end ;  recording  the  salvation  of  a  people 
upon   repentance   by  the  preaching   of  a  man   who 
had   been  rescued    from  the  jaws  of  death   after  a 
three    days'    entombment  ;     it    was    not    altogether 
without     meaning    or     fortuitous   that   the    prophet 
Hosea  had  spoken  as  he  had  of  God's  raising  up 
Israel  the  third  day.     There  was  a  predetermination 
in    all  this;    the  threefold  testimony  of  these  three 
writers,  of  various  ages,  was  designed  as  a  threefold 
cord,  not  easily  to  be  broken,  and  though  it  could  not 
be  affirmed  of  any  one  that  he  directly  contemplated 
the  resurrection  of  Christ  in  writing  as  he  did,  and 
though  it  is  impossible  to  prove  from  the  nature  of 
things  that  the  combination  of   the  threefold  testi- 
mony was  designed  by  God  to  point  to  this  end — 
just  as  it  is  impossible  to  prove  that  the  mechanism 
of  the  human  eye  or  ear  points  to  the  working  of  a 
designer ;  yet,  when  we  have  the  evidence  before  us, 
so  clear  and  patent  as  it  is,  there  is  no  little  diffi- 
culty for  the  prepared,  in  one  case  or  the  other,  to 
resist  the  conclusion  that  eloquently  suggests  itself. 
And    when,   in    addition   to    all   this,  we  have   the 
express   declaration  of  Jesus  Christ  that  all  things 
must  be  fulfilled  which  were  written  in  the  law  of 
Moses,  and  in  the  Prophets  and  in  the  Psalms,  con- 
cerning   Him,  it  becomes   nothing   less   than   wilful 
and  determined  obstinacy  which  resists  it.     The  fact 
is  after  all,  and  the  more  we  ponder  it  the  more  the 
truth   of  it  will   force  itself  upon  us,  that  we   may 


202  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

argue  about  these  things  till  we  are  weary,  but  there 
is  a  preparation  of  heart  required  for  the  acceptance 
of  the  reasonableness  of  Divine  truth.  Unless  we 
are  willing  to  see  our  God  when  He  reveals  Himself 
to  us,  we  shall  not  see  Him.  It  is  not  within  the 
power  of  any  human  being  to  show  Him  who  cannot 
show  Himself  to  those  who  will  not  see.  And  this 
it  is  that  is  so  extremely  distasteful  to  man,  because 
it  appears  to  take  the  power  of  faith  out  of  his  own 
hands.  We  have  not  of  ourselves  the  power  to 
judge  aright,  when  that  judgment  is  to  show  us  our 
vileness  and  nothingness  in  showing  us  the  glory  of 
God.  We  need  to  come  to  the  fountain  of  light, 
not  only  that  we  may  see  light,  but  that  we  may 
receive  the  power  to  see  it.  God  has  spoken  by  His 
Word,  in  spite  of  all  the  difficulties  attending  the 
determination  of  the  way  in  which  He  has  spoken, 
as  He  has  spoken  of  nothing  else.  The  evidence  of 
this  is  the  way  in  which  Christ  said  that  that  Word 
must  be  fulfilled,  and  the  way  in  which  He  fulfilled  it. 
We  cannot  call  ourselves  Christians,  and  yet  deny 
the  one  or  the  other.  If  we  are  prepared  to  accept 
Christ,  and  the  teaching  of  Christ,  then  we  shall  hail 
with  gratitude  the  tokens  which  were  given  before 
of  Him,  like  coruscations  of  roseate  light  in  the 
eastern  sky,  heralding  the  advent  of  the  lord  of  day. 
We  shall  know  that  as  these  infallibly  betoken  the 
glory  that  is  to  follow,  so  the  longings  and  aspira- 
tions and  mysterious  anticipations  of  prophecy  and 
psalm  and   law  were  ordained  as   the   natural  and 


\ 


THE  THIRD  DAY  HE  ROSE  AGAIN,  203 

becoming  harbingers  of  the  advent  of  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness,  who  should  arise  and  shine  with 
healing  in  His  wings,  unto  and  upon  all  those,  but 
only  those,  who  waited  for  His  coming,  and  were 
glad  at  His  approach. 


i 


XVIII. 

2HE    THIRD    DAY  HE   ROSE    AGAIN  FROM 
THE  DEAD, 

If  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  shalt  believe 
in  thine  heart  that  God  hath  raised  Him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be 
saved. — Rom.  x.  9. 

"^  I  ^HERE  Is  yet  another  aspect  of  the  Lord's 
^  resurrection  which  we  must  not  omit  to  con- 
sider before  we  proceed  to  treat  of  the  next  article  of 
the  Creed,  and  that  is  its  practical  bearing  upon  life 
and  action.  The  ministers  of  the  Gospel  are  fre- 
quently taken  to  task  because  they  represent  Chris- 
tianity too  much  as  a  creed  and  a  system.  The 
only  theology  which  finds  favour  with  the  popular 
literature  and  the  popular  thought  of  the  present  day 
is  that  of  morality.  An  article  on  the  English  pulpit 
in  the  Quarterly  Review,  which  has  attracted  con- 
siderable attention,  expresses  the  opinion  that  drunk- 
enness, for  example,  among  other  vices,  might  be 
profitably  treated  by  the  Christian  preacher.  I  confess 
that  I  fail  to  see  this.  A  discourse  upon  drunkenness, 
for  instance,  in  this  place,  would,  I  fancy,  be  more 
ill-timed  and  inappropriate  than  you  probably  regard 
many  of  those   to  which  you  are   invited   to   listen. 


2o6  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

To  be  sure,  if  we  could  get  together  all  the  drunkards, 
there  would  at  least  be  an  opportunity  of  preaching 
to  them — with  what  success  one  might;  as  in  fact 
the  first  requisite  for  preaching  to  any  purpose  is  to 
secure  •  a  congregation  who  are  willing  to  listen  and 
to  learn.  This,  however,  by  the  way.  I  have  inten- 
tionally selected  an  extreme  case,  to  give  the  greater 
point  to  what  I  want  to  say,  which  is,  that  the  popu- 
lar mind,  for  the  most  part,  can  only  appreciate 
Christianity  as  an  ethical  system.  The  same  writer 
observes  that  considering  the  multitude  of  sermons  that 
are  preached  in  this  land  every  week,  the  effect  pro- 
duced is,  comparatively  speaking,  nil.  I  beg  entirely 
to  differ  from  him.  God  knows  that  the  appreciable 
effect  is  small  enough,  but  who  shall  calculate  the 
^.  effect  which  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  man  to  appre- 
ciate; which  would  only  begin  to  be  appreciated  if 
for  a  single  month  every  pulpit  in  the  land  were 
dumb  ?  Though  Christianity  of  course  rules  the 
whole  province  of  morality,  it  is  itself  something  other 
than  moral ;  and  this  cuckoo  cry  of  morality  seems  to 
me  to  indicate  that  the  age  has  not  learnt  one  of  the 
first  lessons  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  that  morality 
is  a  miserable  substitute  for  the  Gospel.  The  more 
legitimate  conclusion  is,  that  if  our  morality  is  defec- 
tive, as  it  conspicuously  too  often  is,  then  our  Chris- 
tianity is  more  defective  still.  It  is  not  that  morality 
is  to  displace  Christianity,  but  that  Christianity  is  to 
develop  and  to  regenerate  morality. 

It  is  impossible,  therefore,  but  that    Christianity 


THE  THIRD  DAY  HE  ROSE  AGAIN.  207 

must  be  a  creed  and  a  system  ;  the  very  essence  of 
it  is  the  person  and  life  of  Christ, — the  very  essence  of 
this  is  a  series  of  exceptions  and  unique  facts.  If 
we  cannot  have  a  Christianity  without  Christ,  which 
one  would  imagine  was  a  truism,  then  we  cannot 
have  a  Christ  without  having  what  is  exceptional 
and  unique  in  human  life  and  history.  We  cannot 
have  a  Christ,  for  example,  who  is  dead  as  other  men 
are  dead  ;  who  is  living  only  as  Socrates  is  living,  in 
the  spirit  and  influence  of  his  teaching;  who  has 
risen  from  the  dead  only  as  the  teaching  of  Socrates 
rose  from  the  dead  after  he  was  poisoned  ;  who  has 
no  other  relation  to  the  Father's  home,  or  to  us  on 
our  way  thither,  than  Aristotle,  or  Archimedes,  or 
Roger  Bacon.  And  the  men  of  this  generation  and 
the  people  of  this  land  will  before  very  long  have  to 
decide  for  themselves  whether  or  not  this  is  the 
Christ  that  they  will  have, — whether  Christ  only  differs 
from  other  men  by  the  bare  superiority  of  His 
teaching,  when  they  may  be  pleased  to  consider  it 
superior  ;  or  whether,  apart  altogether  from  the  ab- 
stract merit  of  His  teaching,  of  which  we  are  judges, 
He  has  in  Himself  and  of  Himself  something  to 
give  and  impart  to  us  which  we  can  only  find  in  and 
derive  from  Him.  And  if  Christ  has  the  power  over 
death  which  His  resurrection  proclaims  Him  to  have, 
then  He  has  this  exceptional  and  unique  gift. 

We  take,  then,  this  statement  of  St.  Paul  as 
expressing  the  practical  complement  of  the  fact  of 
the  resurrection  which  has  engaged  us  hitherto,  and 


2o8  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

shall  endeavour  to  unfold  it  now.  When  he  wrote 
to  the  Romans  he  did  not  say,  "All  you  have  got  to 
do  is  to  lead  moral  lives  ;  to  be  decent,  respectable, 
truth-speaking,  truth-loving;  honest  and  upright  as 
men  of  business,  in  your  intercourse  with  your 
fellows ;  sober,  temperate,  and  chaste  in  your  manage- 
ment of  yourselves  ;  prudent  and  careful  in  your 
management  of  your  households  ;  not  getting  into 
debt,  but  living  strictly  within  your  means,  and 
according  to  your  station  ;  discreet  and  just  in  the 
management  of  your  children,  seeing  that  they  are 
well  and  wisely  educated  up  to  the  requirements  of 
the  time,"  and  a  mass  of  the  like  judicious  and  time- 
serving counsel.  He  did  not  say  this,  or  anything 
like  this,  however  much  what  he  did  say  may 
have  involved  this,  and  far  more  than  this ;  but  what 
he  did  say  was  (and  it  was  thus,  you  observe,  that  he 
characterised  his  own  preaching).  If  thou  shalt  confess 
with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  fesus,  and  shalt  believe  in 
thy  heart  that  God  hath  raised  Him  from  the  dead, 
thou  shalt  be  saved} 

Now  when  this  message  is  fairly  and  adequately 
considered,  it  will  always  have,  to  the  popular  mind, 
the  appearance  of  being  fanatical.  It  is  impossible 
to  deal  honestly  with  the  apostolic  language  and 
not  find  in  it  this  unmistakable  flavour  of  fanati- 
cism ;  because  what  does  the  writer  say.-*  Thou  shalt 
be  saved.  Then  the  men  to  whom  he  wrote  wanted 
saving.     He  had   the   offer   of  salvation;    he   came 

*  Rom.  X.  9. 


THE  THIRD  DA  V  HE  ROSE  AGAIN:  209 

professing  to  teach  them  how  they  might  be  saved. 
Of  course  it  is  a  further  question  what  salvation 
means — how  we  are  to  understand  the  word.  I  will 
come  to  that  by-and-bye  ;  what  I  want  to  implant  in 
your  minds  now  is  that  the  Romans  were  assumed  by 
St.  Paul  to  be  men  who  were  in  need  of  being  saved, 
they  were  lost  men  without  that  which  he  had  to  givQ 
them.  There  can  be  no  mistake  about  it.  If  lan- 
guage means  anything,  then  his  language  means  this. 
And  he  said,  moreover,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  could 
save  them  :  that  by  certain  a  relation  to  Him  they 
would  be  saved  :  not  that  by  being  moral  men  they 
would  be  saved  ;  not  that  by  being  good  citizens, 
good  fathers,  good  subjects,  good  husbands,  good 
masters,  good  servants,  and  the  like  they  would  be 
saved  ;  but  by  confessing  with  the  mouth  and  be- 
lieving with  the  heart.  Now  if  confessing  with  the 
mouth  and  believing  with  the  heart  is  equivalent  to 
being  good  citizens  and  the  like,  they  are  convertible 
terms  ;  then  you  may  of  course  substitute  the  one 
for  the  other,  but  not  otherwise.  And  I  think  that 
no  man  in  his  senses  can  say  that  they  are  con- 
vertible terms,  or  suppose  it  for  an  instant.  If, 
therefore,  what  St.  Paul  preached  was  the  Gospel, 
that  which  would  substitute  this  for  it  cannot  be 
the  Gospel ;  if  one  was  Christianity  the  other  cannot 
be. 

How,  then,  shall  we  understand  this  crucial  word, 
being  saved  .?  Are  we  to  approach  the  matter  with 
the  awful  preliminaries  of  the  bottomless  pit  and  the 

14 


2IO  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

everlasting  fires  of  hell  ?     St.  Paul  does  not  do  so. 
Some  men  cannot  get  on  without  hell.     There  is  a 
substratum  to  all  their  theology,  implied  or  under- 
stood, of  hell  fire.     Their  gospel  is  paved  with  the 
"burning  marie"  of  the  lost  Archangel's  dwelling- 
place.     This  is  one  of  the  irreparable  mischiefs  done 
to  English  theology  by  the  immortal  poem  of  Milton. 
Surely  it  is  possible  to  get  a  better  idea  of  salvation 
from  the  analogy  of  what  we  know  and  have  expe- 
rience of,  than  from  that  which  we  know  not,  and  are 
unable  to  form  any  probable  conception  of.    Surely  in 
order  to  understand  or  appreciate  the  dealings  of  God, 
it  cannot  be  requisite  first  to  attempt  to  sound  the 
depths  and  survey  the  horrors  of  the  abode  of  Satan. 
Is  it  not  possible  to  save  by  the  administration  of  daily 
food,  without  first  having  a  vivid  apprehension  of  all 
the  conceivable  horrors  of  starvation  ?     Is  it  not  pos- 
sible to  save  by  the  constant  and  careful  preservation 
of  health,  without  being  first  exposed  to  the  hair- 
breadth escape  from  some  perilous  illness  ?     And  is 
not  one  the  normal  and  the  other  the  abnormal  con- 
dition of  things  ?     Is  it  not  possible,  then,  to  land  a 
man  safely  at  the  very  gate  of  heaven,  without  first 
hanging   him  in   mortal  terror   of  his  life  over  the 
seething  abyss  of  hell  ?     And  if  it  is,  why  should  we 
insist  upon  the  one  method  being  followed  in  pre- 
ference to  the  other?     Nay,  further,  is  it  not  possible 
to  save  in  the  highest  and  noblest  sense  by  a  whole- 
some and  judicious  education,  in  which  the  mind  is 
stored  with  sound  and  healthy  knowledge,  and  im- 


THE  THIRD  DAY  HE  ROSE  AGAIN.  211 

bued  with  germinal  wisdom,  and  noble  sentiments, 
and  beautiful  images,  instead  of  first  doing  irrepar- 
able damage  by  rendering  the  mind  familiar  with 
the  odious  features  of  vice,  in  order  that  we  may 
have  the  glory  of  a  somewhat  ambiguous  reforma- 
tion ?  Is  it  otherwise  with  the  Christian  doctrine  of 
salvation  ?  Man,  as  he  is,  in  his  lost  estate,  is  a 
being  unsaved.  This  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel, 
and  surely  it  is  one  which  is  indisputable.  Christ 
professed  to  do  what  the  greatest  of  the  heathen"^ 
philosophers  had  been  proved  incapable  of  doing, 
namely,  to  regenerate  the  heart  of  man.  Wherever, 
therefore,  the  Gospel  came,  whether  to  intellectual 
Athens,  or  to  imperial  Rome,  or  to  sensual  Corinth, 
its  message  was  precisely  the  same.  "  Under  cer- 
tain conditions  thou  shalt  be  saved.  As  it  is,  thou 
art  not  saved.  And  everything  testifies  to  the 
fact.  Thy  wisdom  has  given  thee  no  certain  know- 
ledge of  God  ;  thy  teachers  have  exemplified  the 
futility  of  their  own  wisdom  ;  thy  social  condition 
is  hopelessly  and  irremediably  corrupt.  Here  is 
that  truth  which  will  make  thee  wise  unto  salvation 
and  give  thee  life.  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christy 
and  thou  shalt  be  saved!'  And  it  is  not  otherwise 
now.  Granted  that  there  are  most  lamentable 
plague  spots  on  the  surface  of  our  social  existence, 
that  our  moral  condition  is  vitiated  with  the  foulest 
blots  ;  granted  that  the  spectacle  presented  by  the 
Christian  Church  is  sufficient  to  make  every  wise 
man   sigh,  there  is  yet  this  conspicuous   difference 


212  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

between  the  condition  of  the  modern  and  the  ancient 
world,  that  our  evils  exist,  not  because  the  precepts 
and  principles  of  our  religion  are,  but  because  they 
are  not,  carrried  out.  It  is  in  spite  of  our  religion 
that  we  are  what  we  are  ;  because  we  give  the  lie  to 
our  belief  in  our  practice  ;  because  there  are  parts  in 
the  mass  of  society  which  the  leaven  of  the  Gospel 
has  failed  to  penetrate,  where  it  has  encountered 
insuperable  opposition.  The  Gospel  was  to  be 
preached,  not  as  something  which  was  to  make 
men  wise  and  good  in  spite  of  themselves,  and  their 
depravity,  and  their  unbelief,  but  for  a  witness, 
simply  a  witness,  unto  all  nations.^  The  witness  of 
the  Gospel  is  that  men  as  they  are  (and  by  men, 
brethren,  I  mean  myself  and  you,  we  are  no  excep- 
tion. Christians  without  Christ  are  exactly  like 
other  men),  I  say  the  witness  of  the  Gospel  is 
that  men  as  they  are,  are  unsaved.  Surely  the 
state  of  London  at  Christmas  time,  the  state  that 
is  of  the  lower  strata  of  society  in  London,  whose 
chief  notion  of  a  holiday  is  the  flinging  away  of  all 
restraint,  and  the  running  riot  in  every  way  that 
brutal  appetite  suggests,  is  enough  to  show  this. 
And  what  is  exhibited  in  the  most  conspicuous  man- 
ner in  the  lowest  masses,  is  felt  to  be  no  less  true 
virtually  of  himself  by  the  conscience  of  the  disci- 
plined and  educated  Christian,  that  apart  from  Christ 
he  has  no  life,  and  therefore  is  not  saved.  And  what 
is  more,  the  disciplined  and  educated  Christian  feels. 

Matt.  xxiv.  14. 


THE  THIRD  DA  Y  HE  ROSE  AGAIN.  213 

also,  that  it  is  no  mere  alteration  of  conduct,  to 
whatever  extent  it  may  be  carried,  that  will  save 
him,  because  it  is  not  only  in  what  he  does,  but  in 
what  he  is,  and  chiefly  in  what  he  is,  that  he  requires 
to  be  rectified.  It  is  here  that  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
seems  to  me  to  join  fatal  issue  with  those  professed 
Christians  who  exalt  the  human  will  as  the  standard 
of  perfect  action  ;  who  represent  the  man  who  de- 
termines to  be  good,  and  has  moral  energy  and 
self-control  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  act  on  his 
determination,  as  being  that  which  he  determines  to 
be,  or  if  not,  as  having  only  himself  to  blame.  Be- 
cause the  Gospel  seems  to  me  to  declare  plainly 
that,  granting  all  this  is  not  only  resolved  but 
achieved,  there  is  still  room  for  the  absence  of  that 
which  it  proclaims,  namely,  spiritual  life  by  Jesus 
Christ.  The  Gospel  of  Christ  does  not  say,  Do 
this  or  that  definite  thing,  and  it  will  be  well  with 
you ;  because  in  such  a  case  all  that  can  be  said  is,  Do 
this  or  that  and  it  shall  be  done,  leaving  thee  exactly 
where  thou  wast  before;  but  it  does  say.  Believe  and 
thoUy  in  thine  own  incommunicable  indivisible  per- 
sonal essence  shalt  be  saved  :  thou  shalt  be  made 
whole,  just  there,  where  to  thyself  thou  art  most 
conscious  of  defect,  most  sensible  of  having  the 
territory  of  thy  personality  invaded  and  usurped. 
And  if  the  Gospel  of  Christ  does  say  this,  as  it 
manifestly  does  say  here,  I  conceive  that  that  is  a 
misrepresentation  of  the  Gospel  which  says  any- 
thing else,  which  implies  that  the  Gospel  is  a  gospel 


214  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

of  morality,  and  that  its  ministers  are  wrong  when 
they  proclaim  it  as  a  creed  or  a  system.  That  it  is 
not  only  a  creed  or  a  system,  is  as  evident  from  the 
tenor  of  these  words  as  that  it  is  not  only  morality. 
But  the  fact  is,  that  the  Gospel  of  Christ  professes 
to  ^\YQ.  man  life,  a  life  which,  without  it,  he  is 
destitute  of,  and  cannot  have  ;  and  this  life  it  pro- 
fesses to  give,  not  as  the  effect  or  reward  of  doing 
something,  but  as  the  consequence  of  believing  a 
definite  fact,  namely,  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ. 
And  yet  not  as  the  consequence  of  believing  this 
fact  only  as  a  fact,  like  the  conquest  of  this  country 
by  the  Romans,  or  by  William  of  Normandy,  for 
there  have  been  thousands  who  never  doubted  this 
fact,  and  yet  have  never  been  the  better  for  believing 
it, — but  of  believing  it  in  the  heart,  that  is  to  say 
with  the  innermost  centre  of  the  personal  being, 
with  all  the  faculties  of  the  spiritual  essence.  For 
nothing  is  more  true  than  this,  that  the  Gospel  not 
only  revealed  new  facts  to  man,  but  also  revealed 
new  capacities  in  man — discovered  to  himself  the 
possession  of  new  faculties,  which  before  had  lain 
dormant  for  the  want  of  analogous  objects  on  which 
to  exercise  them.  So  the  Gospel  said,  "  Here  is  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  a  fact  for  the  heart,  and 
not  for  the  understanding,  to  lay  hold  on  and  appre- 
hend. And  the  heart  that  is  conscious  of  the  want 
of  life,  may  find  life  in  this  fact."  Only  here  again 
it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  fact  is  to  be 
apprehended,  not  merely  as  a  bare  fact  like  one  of 


THE  THIRD  DAY  HE  ROSE  AGAIN.  215 

those  already  mentioned,  which  being  once  over, 
is  removed  farther  and  farther  into  the  past  by  the 
flight  of  time,  but  as  a  fact  of  which  the  significance 
is  perpetual,  and  ever  fresh,  as — if  thou  shalt  believe 
in  thine  heart  that  God  hath  raised  Him  from  the 
dead — it  is  indefinite  in  its  operation  without  regard 
to  time.  It  must  be  brought  home  to  the  heart  as 
a  recent  work  wrought  by  God,  a  work  that  is 
specially  redolent  of  the  present  God,  and  ex- 
pressive of  His  will  and  favour.  For  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  Lord  Jesus  is  the  highest  exponent  of 
the  law  of  Divine  life  in  its  relation  to  man.  It 
brings  the  life  of  God  present  to  the  soul  of  man, 
in  the  person  of  a  living  man,  whose  physical  con- 
stitution has  cast  out  death,  and  is  the  centre  and 
source  of  life.  Can  it  be  that  this  is  a  carnal  view 
of  the  Lord's  new  life  }  Is  it  not  that  any  life  which 
left  His  body  in  any  sense  a  prey  to  death,  unre- 
deemed from  the  power  of  the  grave,  must  be  an 
impalpable  life  which  we  cannot  grasp,  or  which,  if 
we  grasp  it,  leaves  us  as  it  finds  us,  dead  ;  and  must 
not  such  a  view  be  essentially  inferior  to  one  which 
sees  in  His  triumph  over  death  a  reality,  and  not  a 
metaphor,  a  blessed  fact  and  not  a  shadowy  idea } 
Whereas  the  belief  in  Jesus  Christ,  as  one  who  was 
dead  and  is  alive,  is  a  belief  that  is  fraught  with  life 
to  the  heart  of  man  ;  which  brings  with  it  inextin- 
guishable hope,  which  grows  brighter  and  brighter  as 
life  wanes  and  years  pass  by,  and  friends  drop  off  or 
change  ;  which  survives  the  vicissitudes  of  perpetual 


2i6  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

and  ever-recurring  decay,  and  kindles  a  torch  which 
shall  burn  for  ever  at  the  smouldering  ashes  of  mortal 
joy,  and  makes  the  heart  of  the  old  man  young, 
and  the  courage  of  the  feeble  strong :  while  in  the 
contemplation  of  human  sin,  of  that  which  stares 
one  in  the  face  without,  and  of  that  which  the  heart 
is  privy  to  within,  it  is  this  and  this  alone  which 
can  give  the  assured  hope  of  salvation,  which  can 
say  with  definite  and  unfaltering  tones,  if  thou 
shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth — for  what  is  the  secret 
conviction  of  the  heart  without  the  open  confession 
of  the  mouth  ?  it  is  worth  but  little  more  than  such 
open  confession  without  a  corresponding  inward  con- 
viction,— but  if  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the 
Lord  Jesus  and  shalt  believe  in  thine  heart  that  God 
hath  raised  Him  from  the  dead^  thou  shalt  he  saved  : 
not  merely  put  in  a  state  which  may  ultimately  lead 
to  salvation,  or  which  may  possibly  not,  but  saved 
alike  with  a  present  and  with  an  everlasting  salva- 
tion, the  salvation  of  those  who  make  the  Lord,  the 
Rock  of  Ages,  their  everlasting  hope;  a  salvation 
which  gives  peace  and  joy  here,  which  gives  victory 
over  sin,  and  mastery  over  self,  and  confidence  even 
in  despair  here,  and  which,  for  the  endless  future  of 
the  world  beyond  the  grave,  is  content  to  rest  securely 
on  the  unfailing  word  of  Him  who  says,  Because  I 
livCy  ye  shall  live  also. 


XIX. 

HE  ASCENDED  INTO  HE  A  VEN. 

He  that  descended  is  the  same  also  that  ascended  up  far  above  all 
heavens  that  He  might  fill  all  things. — Eph.  iv.  lo. 

npHIS  passage  is  valuable,  as  showing  that  the 
*-  fact  of  our  Lord's  ascension  was  part  of  that 
scheme  of  oral  instruction  which  had  been  committed 
to  the  Ephesians,  or  whoever  the  persons  were,  to 
whom  this  epistle  was  sent  by  the  Apostle  Paul.  The 
allusions  to  that  event  in  the  Gospels  are  very  few 
and  very  brief.  St.  Matthew  and  St.  John  have  not 
recorded  the  fact.  So  that  it  might  have  been  sup- 
posed by  some  that  the  belief  in  our  Lord's  ascen- 
sion was  not  part  of  the  original  mass  of  tradition 
respecting  Christ,  were  it  not  that  here  for  example, 
and  again  in  the  first  Epistle  to  Timothy,^  and  several 
times  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,''^  clear  incidental 
reference  is  made  to  that  event.  We  cannot  there- 
fore for  a  moment  doubt  that  the  ascension  into 
glory  was  among  the  several  incidents  in  our  Lord's 
life,  which  from  the  first  were  inculcated  and  be- 
lieved by  the  Christian  teachers  and  the  Christian 
Church.     And  in  fact  it  follows  as  a  natural  and  a 

*  I  Tim.  iii.  i6.  2  j^^^^  j^  ^j  ix.  24;  xii.  2.,  etc. 


2i8  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

necessary  sequel  to  our  Lord's  resurrection.  He 
shewed  Himself  alive  after  His  passion  by  many 
infallible  proofs,  being  seen  of  the  disciples  forty 
days,  but  only  forty  days,  and  speaking  of  the  things 
pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God.^  When  these 
days  were  accomplished  He  was  seen  no  more. 
Why  not  t  Having  risen  from  the  dead,  He  could 
die  no  more ;  but  He  was  to  be  seen  no  more.  Where, 
then,  was  He  >  The  most  natural  answer  is  that  He 
had  ascended  up  where  He  was  before. 

We  may  observe,  then,  that  the  comparative  silence 
of  the  Gospels  about  the  ascension  is  a  strong  colla- 
teral evidence  of  its  truth,  under  the  circumstances, 
rather  than  the  reverse.  If  the  Jesus,  of  whom  they 
spake,  were  He  who  they  said  He  was,  it  would 
follow  naturally  and  obviously  that  He  had  returned 
to  the  bosom  of  the  Father.  He  had  said  that  a 
certain  nobleman  went  into  a  far  country,  to  receive 
for  himself  a  kingdom,  and  to  return}  He  had 
spoken  of  sitting  on  the  throne  of  His  glory  to  judge 
all  nations,^— -the  fact  of  the  ascension  was  involved 
and  implied  in  these  and  similar  utterances ;  and 
therefore  seeing  that  in  itself  it  was  an  event  so 
marvellous,  it  is  plain  that  the  Gospel  writers,  if  they 
wished  only  to  record  the  marvellous,  would  have 
recorded  the  ascension.  Whereas  two  Gospels  only 
have  mentioned  it,  and  that  in  the  briefest  possible 
manner. 

*  Acts  i.  3.  '  Matt.  XXV.  31. 

*  Luke  xix.  I2. 


HE  ASCENDED  INTO  HEAVEN.  219 


Again,  we  observe  further,  that  we  have  now 
taken  final  leave  of  the  natural,  the  human,  and  the 
earthly  in  the  Christian  Creed,  as  in  our  Lord's  life. 
We  have  now  entered  on  the  supernatural,  the 
heavenly,  the  Divine,  and  shall  henceforth  there 
remain.  If  rising  from  the  dead  is  a  miraculous 
and  supernatural  act,  so  also  is  ascending  into  the 
the  heavens.  It  is  impossible  to  regard  it  otherwise. 
We  must  altogether  explain  it  away,  and  resolve  it 
into  pure  metaphor,  if  it  is  to  cease  to  be  miraculous. 
But  it  is  perfectly  plain  from  the  several  accounts  in 
St.  Mark,  St.  Luke,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and 
the  various  allusions  in  the  Epistles,  that  the  dis- 
ciples regarded  the  ascension  of  their  Master  in  the 
simple  manner  that  their  own  senses  bade  them. 
The  chosen  had  seen  Him  go  up  into  the  heavens, 
a  cloud  had  received  Him  out  of  their  sight.  The 
vision  they  beheld  had  been  interpreted  to  them^  by 
angels ;  it  was  impossible  for  their  plain,  simple, 
matter-of-fact  and  unsophisticated  minds  to  imagine 
or  conceive  any  other  method  of  understanding  the 
fact, — it  was  contrary  to  all  laws  of  nature  that  a 
human  body  should  ascend  into  the  air.  The  human 
body  of  their  Master  in  their  own  sight  had  done 
so,  and  that  was  enough. 

And  it  should  be  enough  for  us.  Account  for  it 
we  cannot,  believe  it  we  may,  get  rid  of  it  we  dare 
not,  if  we  are  willing  that  the  simple  faith  of  the 
first  Christians    should    be    ours,  or   should    govern 

*  Mark  xvi.  19;  Luke  xxiv.  51 ;  Acts  i.  9-1 1. 


THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 


ours.     The    Lord    Himself   appears  to  have   repre- 
sented  His  own  ascension  as  the  greatest  effort  of 
faith  for  those  who  were  unspiritual.     When  some 
of  His  disciples  murmured  at  His    teaching  about 
the  mystical  union  between  believers  and   Himself, 
which  He  spoke  of  as  eating  His  flesh  and  drinking 
His  blood,  and  exclaimed  This  is  a  hard  sayings  who 
can  hear  it,  He  replied,  Doth  this  offend  you,   What 
and  if  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  ascend  up  where 
He  was  before.     It  is  the  spirit  that  qiiickeneth,  the 
flesh  profiteth  nothing ;  the  words  that  I  speak  tinto 
you  they  are  spirit  and  they  are  life}     He  therefore 
not    only  leaves   the    mystery  in    its    undiminished 
vastness    and  obscurity,   but    virtually  supplies    the 
key  for  its  solution.     The  ascension  of  Christ,  like 
all  the  other  supernatural  acts  of  His  life,  appeals 
to  a  new  organ  in  man, — an  organ  of  which  some 
men    appear    to    be  entirely  devoid    and    destitute, 
— the  spiritual  faculty.     Where  this  organ  is  found, 
there  is  the  capacity  for  embracing   such  acts  and 
words  as  present  insuperable  obstacles  to  the  merely 
natural,  material,  intellectual  tendencies  of  the  mind. 
If  we  were  to  see  a  man  profess  to  ascend  into  the 
air  now,  we  should  at  once  know  it  was  imposture  or 
delusion,  or  the  like.     When  the  Christian  says   He 
ascended  into  heaven,  he  not  only  knows  that  this 
was  literally  done,  but  never  for  a  moment  thinks 
of  resolving  it  as  he  would  resolve  it  now.    Why  not  t 
Because  with  Him  it  is  a  foregone  conclusion,  that 

*  John  vi.  60-63. 


HE  ASCENDED  INTO  HE  A  VEN.  221 

the  person  so  ascending  was  the  Lord  of  heaven  and 
earth.  Given  the  premises  whichi  are  indispensable, 
and  the  inference  naturally  follows  without  effort 
and  without  dispute ;  but  it  is  surely  disingenuous  to 
attempt  to  explain  away  the  accidents,  while  at  the 
same  time  not  openly  denying  the  premises  ;  and 
still  more  so  to  reject  the  accidents  for  the  express 
purpose  of  denying  the  premises.  The  inevitable 
consequence  of  such  a  course  must  be  to  leave  this 
world  without  its  manifested  God. 

Now,  to  the  Christian,  the  ascension  puts  the 
coping-stone  to  the  edifice  before  constructed.  It  is 
the  coronation  of  the  Lord  of  life ;  but  like  all  the 
other  acts  of  His  personal  history,  it  is  the  very 
opposite  to  what  we  should  expect  in  earthly  things. 
There  was  no  pomp  or  splendour  about  His  ascen- 
sion. It  was  quiet,  unobtrusive,  unobserved  of  any 
multitudes ;  unwitnessed  by  the  world  at  large ;  unac- 
companied by  those  accessories  of  greatness  and  glory 
which  so  powerfully  affect  the  ordinary  mind.  All 
the  greatest  acts  of  God  are  secret  and  unobserved. 
What  human  eye  detects  the  first  pulse  of  life  that 
beats  in  the  germ  of  the  sprouting  acorn  that  is  to 
produce  the  oak.?  Who  knows  where  is  hid  the 
reserve  of  power  which  moves  and  guides  the  uni-  \ 
verse.?  Very  few  were  aware  when  the  Child  was  ^ 
born  in  Bethlehem  which  was  to  be  the  King  of  / 
the  Jews.  Few,  comparatively  speaking,  watched 
His  death.  No  one  was  present  at  His  resurrection. 
Eleven    men    only    saw    Him   ascend   into    heaven. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 


This  is   of  a  piece  with   the   unobserved   greatness 
and  majesty  of  God. 

When  the  traveller  crosses  the  western  ocean  he 
may  sail  for  days  without  seeing  a  ship  ;  but  mean- 
while the  sun  comes  forth  in  his  splendour  and  sets 
with  majestic  glory  in  the  distant  wave,  and  as  the 
spray  dances  in  the  sunbeam,  and  the  prow  of  the 
vessel  cleaves  the  billow,  the  prismatic  colours  of 
refracted  light  sport  gaily  and  joyously  over  the 
surface  of  the  deep.  For  whom  is  all  this  }  Is  this 
miracle  of  nature  wrought  for  him }  Perhaps  no 
eye  but  his  observes  it — and  oftentimes  he  observes 
it  not — ^yet  the  wonder  is  not  withheld.  The  Lord 
rejoices  in  His  works,  whether  man  is  called  to 
witness,  or  cares  to  witness,  them  or  not.  Surely, 
then,  the  majesty  of  Christ  is  seen  in  the  compara- 
tive silence  and  solitude  of  His  mightiest  works,  and 
He  was  likest  unto  God  when  He  rose  from  the 
dead  with  no  mortal  eye  to  witness  His  resurrection, 
and  ascended  into  heaven  in  the  presence  of  eleven 
only  of  His  chosen  ones,  and  not  even  of  His 
mother. 

But  seeing  that  He  left  not  Himself  without 
witness  when  He  ascended  up  where  He  was  be- 
fore, it  is  clear  that  He  intended  us  to  derive  some 
lessons  of  instruction  and  comfort  from  the  fact. 
Let  us  reverently  ponder  these. 

The  first  undoubted  lesson  to  be  learnt  is  this. 
The  exaltation  of  the  human  nature  in  the  person 
of  its  head,  He  ascended  up  into  heaven.     What  and 


HE  ASCENDED  INTO  HE  A  VEN.  223 

where  is  heaven  ?  It  is  other  and  higher  than  earth. 
It  is  where  our  Father  is  who  dwelleth  in  heaven. 
It  is  there  that  Christ  is  gone,  whatever  and  wher- 
ever that  is.  The  connection  is  thus  clearly  estab- 
lished between  us  in  our  human  nature  and  the 
central  dwelling-place  of  God.  Be  it  observed,  how- 
ever, that  this  is  a  truth  which  we  must  be  care- 
ful of  dealing  with,  according  to  the  natural  limits 
and  laws  of  our  mind.  As  we  have  said,  it  is  a 
spiritual  truth,  to  be  apprehended  spiritually,  to  be 
grasped  only  by  the  spirit. 

Again,  we  know  how  easy  it  is  for  us  to  become 
engrossed  in  the  affairs  of  life  and  circumstance.  We 
know  when  this  is  the  case  how  completely  non-exist- 
ent all  other  things  and  places  and  persons  are  to  us. 
We  know  how  thoroughly  this  is  the  case,  from  the 
fact  of  our  insular  position,  with  us  as  a  nation.  How 
comparatively  rare  a  thing  it  is  for  an  Englishman 
to  speak  any  language  except  his  own.  What  a 
common  thing  it  is  abroad  to  meet  with  people  who 
speak  at  least  two  or  three.  We  know  also  that 
the  human  mind  is  so  constituted,  that  when  its 
attention  is  exclusively  directed  too  intently  to  one 
small  area  of  business  or  routine  life  in  this  manner, 
the  health  gives  way.  And  therefore  in  this  high- 
pressure  existence  in  which  we  all  live  here  it 
becomes  absolutely  essential  that  the  strain  of  con- 
tinuity should  be  broken  from  time  to  time.  It  often 
happens  that  the  best  and  the  only  thing  we  can  do 
is  to  get  away  out  of  the  reach  of  the  tentacles  of 


224  I^HE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

our  common  life,  where  letters  cannot  find  us,  and 
familiar  faces  cannot  bring  with  them  the  train  of 
harassing  and  painful  associations  ;  where  change  of 
scene  and  change  of  incident,  and  an  entirely  new  ad- 
justment of  things,  and  a  re-disposition  of  time  may 
not  only  relax  the  tension  of  the  over- wrought  mind, 
but  likewise  call  into  exercise  as  it  were  a  new  combi- 
nation of  mental  nerves  and  muscles.  Every  man  of 
action  has  felt  and  is  doomed  to  feel  this.  Such  a 
malady,  the  inevitable  consequence  of  a  highly  artifi- 
cial life,  imperatively  demands  the  natural  remedy  of 
rest  and  change,  and  the  direct  influence  of  natural 
scenery.  That  is  to  say,  it  is  good  for  man  that  he 
should  be  conscious  of  another  life  and  of  other 
scenes  than  those  in  which  he  daily  mingles.  And 
this  is  undeniably  one  great  lesson  of  the  Lord's 
ascension.  That  has  opened  to  our  faith  and  to 
our  imagination  the  existence  of  another  world  in 
which  One  who  shares  our  nature  and  is  clothed  in 
our  flesh  lives  and  reigns.  He  has  invited  us  to 
come  to  Him  there.  He  is  gone  before  to  prepare  a 
place  for  us.  He  is  ascended  into  the  heavens  that 
we  may  also  in  heart  and  mind  thither  ascend  and 
with  Him  continually  dwell.  He  who  knows  our 
nature,  knows  that  it  is  good  for  us  to  have  before 
our  mind  the  definite  existence  of  a  place  where  He 
is,  where  for  the  present  we  cannot  come  except  by 
faith ;  but  where,  nevertheless,  we  may  now  by  faith 
dwell  with  Him,  and  where  hereafter,  the  promise  is, 
that  we  shall  be  with  Him  for  ever. 


HE  ASCENDED  INTO  HE  A  VEN.  225 

The  ascension  of  Christ,  then,  shows  us  the  wisdom 
of  living  elsewhere  and  otherwise  than  in  the  present, 
the  temporary,  and  the  local.  It  gives  us  a  better 
prospect,  a  higher  aim,  a  more  glorious  hope.  Man- 
kind are  not  ignorant  of  the  principle  herein  em 
bodied.  To  be  able  to  live  in  many  circumstances, 
to  move  naturally  and  easily  from  one  experience  to 
another,  from  one  engagement  to  another,  from  one 
interview  to  another,  is  the  mark  of  a  comprehensive, 
an  able,  and  an  agile  mind  ;  but  when  the  change  is 
simply  from  one  department  of  the  present  or  the  local 
to  another,  though  the  powers  of  the  mind  may  be 
refreshed,  the  spirit  is  not  recruited.  What  we  want 
is  an  increase  of  spiritual  strength.  We  want  to 
renew  our  youth  like  the  eagle's.  This  is  to  be  done 
only  by  refreshment  of  the  spirit,  by  recreation  from 
the  spiritual  reserve  of  the  eternal  world. 

But  what  are  those  to  do  who  have  the  like  strain 
with  ourselves,  but  can  know  no  change  and  enjoy 
no  relaxation,  who  are  the  victims  day  after  day 
of  the  perpetual  harass  and  irritation  of  small  an- 
noyances which  are  like  the  continual  droppings  of 
water  that  wear  away  the  marble,  who  are  chained 
by  the  links  of  association  to  some  oppressive  and 
exacting  thought  which  is  continually  recurring,  and 
the  recurrence  of  which  is  pain  ;  but  who,  unlike  the 
wealthy  and  the  free,  are  forbidden  the  solace  and 
refreshment  of  relaxation,  simply  because  they  are 
neither  free  nor  wealthy,  and  cannot  shake  off  the 
weight  of  carking  care  t     I  say,  what  are  such  to  do  > 

15 


226  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

And  to  them  I  would  reply,  Whatever  the  trouble  is 
which  weighs  upon  you,  whether  family  care  or 
pecuniary  difficulty,  or  business  responsibility,  make 
a  conscience  of  forgetting  it,  let  not  that  reflex  action 
of  the  mind,  by  which  it  contemplates  itself  and  its 
own  position,  be  encouraged  or  permitted.  While, 
therefore,  you  give  the  requisite  amount  of  mental 
effort  to  the  work  immediately  in  hand,  let  that  be 
all  you  give  ;  shake  off  the  recurrent  and  reflective 
action  by  which  the  mind  broods  on  the  subject 
that  engages  it.  Determine  not  to  think  of  it.  Let 
the  words  of  the  old  song,  "  My  mind  to  me  a  king- 
dom is,"  be  the  maxim  of  your  conduct.  Resolve 
that  your  thoughts  shall  only  run  as  you  deem  it 
expedient  they  should  run.  You  have  done  your 
duty,  that  is  assumed  ;  I  only  speak  to  those  who 
desire  to  do  their  duty — others,  the  idle,  the  indif- 
ferent, the  inearnest,  the  frivolous,  I  am  not  con- 
cerned with — you  have  done  your  duty,  you  can 
do  no  more :  leave  the  rest  to  God.  He  knows 
better  than  you  do  the  way  that  you  take.  It  is 
His  prerogative  to  create  light  out  of  darkness. 
There  is  no  use  in  your  taking  thought,  and  indulg- 
ing care.  You  cannot  add  one  cubit  to  your  age, 
you  cannot  make  one  hair  white  or  black.  Care 
will  take  away  many  cubits  from  your  age,  and  will 
turn  your  hair  white  before  its  time.  The  hour  will 
run  on  just  as  slowly,  just  as  rapidly,  whether  you 
take  anxious  thought  or  not ;  every  hour  will  have 
its  sixty  minutes,  neither  more  nor  less ;  every   day 


HE  ASCENDED  INTO  HEA  VEN.  227 


will  bring  its  night,  and  every  night  will  usher  in  the 
morn.  Cultivate,  therefore,  as  a  religious  duty  the 
habit  of  obliviousness.  When  you  have  done  your 
work,  dismiss  it. 

And  what  if,  as  sometimes  happens,  your  work  is 
never  done  }  Then,  one  thing  at  a  time.  Do  not  mix 
up  the  work  of  to-morrow,  with  the  duty  of  to-day. 
To-morrow  may  never  come,  and  then  some  one 
else  must  do  its  work.  Work  was  made  for  man, 
and  not  man  for  work.  Man  was  made  for  heaven, 
and  that  is  where  Christ  is  gone,  and  that  is  the 
home  of  the  ascension. 

It  is  not  an  unlovely  thought  that  one  of  the  first 
scriptures  that  are  read  in  the  new  year,^  according 
to  the  new  table  of  lessons,  is  the  detailed  narrative 
of  the  ascension  by  St.  Luke  in  the  Acts.  At  such 
a  time  we  ascend,  in  spite  of  ourselves,  to  a  higher 
elevation.  So  much  more  of  life  is  behind  us,  so 
much  less  before  us;  and  Christ  also  has  ascended, 
He  is  gone  up  on  high.  He  hath  led  captivity 
captive,  and  received  gifts  for  men,  yea  even  for  his 
enemies,  that  the  Lord  God  might  dwell  among 
them.  Never  had  these  marvellous  words  such 
meaning  as  after  that  scene  on  Olivet.  But  we 
misunderstand  that  great  event,  if  we  think  that  He 
is  gone  up  that  He  might  go  away.  He  is  gone  up 
that  the  Lord  God  might  dwell  among  us.  In  St. 
Paul's  wonderful  language.  He  that  descended  is  the 
same  also   that  ascended   up  far  above   all   heavens^ 

'  Preached  on  the  first  Sunday  in  the  New  Year. 


228  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

that  He  might  fill  all  things.  Place  and  space  are 
no  conditions  of  the  spiritual,  any  more  than  time  is. 
Higher  or  lower,  as  we  measure  by  an  earthly 
standard,  are  not  applicable  to  that  world  which  is 
imperceptible  to  the  natural  eye.  Christ  ascended 
that  He  might  fill  all  things  ;  not  that  He  might 
vanish,  but  that  he  might  pervade.  Mary  Magda- 
lene was  bidden  not  to  touch  Him,  because  He  was 
not  yet  ascended,  the  necessary  verbal  inference  being 
thus  left,  that  there  was  a  sense  in  which  she  might 
touch  Him  more  readily  after  His  ascension,  and  if 
the  purpose  of  His  ascending  was  that  He  might 
fill  all  things,  this  would  be  intelligible.  We  dare 
not  speculate  upon  the  effects  of  His  ascension  upon 
the  conditions  of  His  risen  body,  but  we  know  this, 
that  there  are  no  limits  to  His  presence, — a  presence 
in  many  ways  more  real  and  more  effectual  now 
than  in  the  days  of  His  flesh,  when  His  presence  was 
conditioned  by  the  limits  of  time  and  space. 

If  we  thus  apprehend  the  presence  of  our  Lord, 
we  shall  find  in  all  the  trials  and  cares  of  life  that 
we  have  a  very  present  help  in  trouble,  and  shall 
know  that  One  who  hath  triumphed  over  death,  and 
ascended  with  His  risen  body  into  the  heavens  that 
He  might  fill  all  things,  is  not  only  willing  but  able, 
not  only  able,  but  willing,  to  succour  and  to  save 
all  those  who  came  unto  God  by  Him,  seeing  He 
ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them. 


XX. 

AND   SITTETH  ON   THE    RIGH2   HAND    OF 
GOD   THE  FATHER  ALMIGHTY. 

Who  is  he  that  condemneth  ?  It  is  Christ  that  died,  yea  rather,  that 
is  risen  again,  who  is  even  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  who  also  maketh 
intercession  for  us. — Rom.  viii.  34. 

A  T /"HEN  we  bear  in  mind  that  this  passage  was 
^  ^  probably  written  before  any  one  of  our  pre- 
sent gospels  was  in  existence,  it  is  very  interesting 
to  note  how  the  writer  had  fully  embraced  a  fact 
relating  to  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  is 
directly  stated  only  in  the  gospel  of  St.  Mark.  We 
are  there  told  that  after  the  Lord  had  spoken  u7ito 
them  he  was  received  up  into  heaven^  and  sat  on 
the  right  hand  of  God}  In  the  epistle  to  the  Colos- 
sians  St.  Paul  says,  If  ye  then  be  risen  with  Christ 
seek  those  things  which  are  above^  where  Christ  sitteih 
on  the  right  hand  of  God?  In  the  epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  we  read  that,  when  He  had  by  Himself  purged 
our  sinSf  Christ  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
majesty  on  high  ;  ^  and  again,  We  have  such  a  high 
priest,  who  is  set  on  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of 
the  majesty  in  the  heavens  ;  *  and  once  more,  Who  for 

^  Mark  xvi.  19.  s  jjgb   j   ^ 

2  Col.  iii.  I.  *  Heb.  viii.  I. 


230  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him,  endured  the  cross, 
despising  the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  throne  of  God}  And  lastly,  in  the  first 
epistle  of  Peter,  Who  is  gone  into  heaven,  and  is  on 
the  right  hand  of  God,  ajtgels  and  authorities  and 
powers  being  made  subject  unto  Him?  This  is  the 
aggregate  of  scriptural  allusion  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment to  that  declaration  of  the  Creed  which  we  are 
now  to  consider. 

And  this  present  passage  in  the  Romans  joins 
with  the  session  of  our  blessed  Lord  on  God's  right 
hand,  the  statement  about  His  making  intercession 
for  us,  which  has  no  other  parallel  in  Scripture  but 
the  similar  statement  in  the  Hebrews,  Wherefore 
He  is  able  to  save  them  to  the  uttermost  that  come  u7ito 
God  by  Him,  seeing  He  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession 
for  themf  To  my  mind  the  solitary  occurrence  of 
this  direct  assertion  about  our  Lord's  intercession 
in  the  two  epistles  to  the  Romans  and  the  Hebrews 
would  go  a  long  way  towards  producing  the  con- 
viction that  the  same  writer  was  the  author  of  both  ; 
this,  however,  by  the  way.  We  have  several  allu- 
sions to  our  Lord's  present  position  of  glory  on 
the  right  hand  of  God.  Usually  this  is  represented 
as  one  of  session  ;  but  on  one  remarkable  occasion, 
namely  the  martyrdom  of  Stephen,  we  are  told  that 
he  saw  the  glory  of  God  in  the  opened  heavens,  and 
Jesus  standing  on  the  right  hand  of  God.      We  have 

*  Heb.  xii.  2.  '  Heb.  vii.  25. 

"^  I  Peter  iii.  22.  *  Acts  vii.  55,  56. 


AND  SITTETH  ON  THE  RIGHT  HAND  OF  GOD.    231 


only  two  allusions  to  His  intercession  for  us,  and 
one  of  them  is  this.  In  the  Creed  there  is  no  men- 
tion of  the  Lord's  intercession,  but  we  cannot  separate 
it  from  the  thought  of  His  present  position,  nor  indeed 
His  present  position  altogether  from  the  thought  of 
His  intercession,  and  therefore  it  may  be  well  to 
combine  the  two  in  our  meditations  to-day. 

When  I  say  that  there  are  only  two  allusions  to 
our  Lord's  intercession  in  the  New  Testament,  I 
mean  express  allusions.  We  have  in  the  Hebrews 
such  a  statement  as  Christ  is  not  entered  into  the  holy 
places  made  with  hands,  which  are  the  figures  of  the 
true,  but  into  heaven  itself,  now  to  appear  in  the 
presence  of  God  for  us  -^  and  in  the  first  epistle  of 
St.  John,  If  any  man  sin  we  have  an  Advocate  with 
the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous^  and  the  like. 
To  the  ordinary  mind  this  will  appear  like  a  repe- 
tition of  the  same  idea,  but  to  the  careful  student  of 
the  exact  declarations  and  language  of  Scripture  the 
difference  will  be  worth  noting. 

We  proceed,  then,  to  the  consideration  of  the 
subject  in  hand  ;  and  we  must  first  observe  that  we 
are  dealing  now  with  a  matter  altogether  beyond 
the  scope  and  apprehension  of  our  natural  faculties. 
We  cannot  see  Jesus  Christ  now ;  no  exercise,  there- 
fore, of  our  natural  faculties  will  inform  us  where  He 
is  or  what  the  conditions  of  His  present  existence 
are,  any  more  than  you  or  I  can  divine  the  nature 
of  a  particular  country  which  we  have  never  visited 

^  Heb.  ix.  24.  2  I  joijn  ii.  i. 


232  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

When  Sir  Roderick  Murchison  told  Livingstone  what 
geological  formations  he  would  find  in  the  centre  of 
Africa,  he  hazarded  an  assertion  which  was  based  on 
a  scientific  induction  of  facts,  and  which  was  con- 
sequently verified.  Had  the  assertion  proved  false, 
his  science  would  heve  been  at  fault,  and  the  error 
would  have  been  capable  of  detection.  But  there 
is  no  analogy  between  the  geological  formations  of 
Africa  and  the  state  or  accidents  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  No  bow  which  is  bent  on  earth  will  project 
an  arrow  into  the  dwelling-place  of  God,  and  in- 
duction fails  us  here.  We  may  argue  for  ever,  but 
our  conclusions  will  be  invalid  and  void.  Archimedes 
used  to  say  that  had  he  where  to  place  his  engines 
he  could  move  the  world  :  with  equal  truth  we  may 
say  that  we  cannot  map  out  the  geography  of  heaven, 
simply  because  we  have  no  instruments  or  lenses 
which  will  carry  or  reveal  so  far. 

But  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  facts  we 
have  already  contemplated,  which,  as  we  have  seen 
rest  on  a  basis  of  evidence  so  conclusive,  throw  great 
light  on  those  of  which  we  have  yet  to  treat.  If 
Jesus  Christ  is,  as  we  believe  Him  to  be,  the  human 
manifestation  of  the  Divine  Being,  then  that  cir- 
cumstance must  materially  affect  all  that  we  are  told 
of  Him  after  He  left  this  earth.  The  conditions  of 
Christ's  present  existence  are  not  difficult  to  appre- 
hend because  we  have  exalted  Him  too  high,  but 
because  we  have  not  exalted  Him  high  enough. 
We   are  dealing  with  One,  whose  glory  is   infinite, 


AND  SITTETH  ON  THE  RIGHT  HAND  OF  GOD.    233 

and  commensurate  with  nature  and  with  space  ;  we 
are  not  dealing  with  a  man,  the  conditions  of  whose 
existence  were  limited  by  the  limitations  of  our 
natural  life. 

When  we  are  told  that  Christ  ascended  into  the 
heavens,  we  must  not  forget  who  Christ  was,  and  we 
must  beware  of  interpreting  His  ascension  by  the 
degrees  of  higher  and  lower,  but  must  remember 
that  ascension  is  a  spiritual  act,  pertaining  to  the 
spiritual  body,  and  that  it  transcends  the  conceptions 
of  the  imagination  or  the  intellect,  as  much  as  the 
spirit  transcends  the  mind.  If  we  are  told  that 
Christ  is  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  we  must  correct 
the  thoughts  suggested  by  the  sober  undoubted 
truth,  that  God  is  a  being  without  body,  parts  or 
passions,  and  that  He  has  no  right  hand  on  which 
to  sit,  whatever  the  literal  expression  may  be  de- 
signed to  teach  us. 

This,  as  it  seems  to  me,  is  one  of  the  purposes 
intended  to  be  served  by  the  Revelation  of  St. 
John.  Read  in  the  first  chapter  the  vision  of  our 
Lord  in  glory,  which  was  vouchsafed  to  His  servant 
John,  in  the  isle  of  Patmos,  and  see  how  the  right 
hand  of  power  is  interpreted  thereby.  ^^  And  when 
I  saw  Him,  I  fell  at  His  feet  as  dead,  and  He  laid 
His  right  hand  upon  me,  saying  tmto  me,  Fear  not,  I 
am  the  first  and  the  last;  I  am  He  that  liveth,  and  was 
dead,  and  behold  I  am  alive  for  evermore!'  ^  Here  is 
the  right  hand  of  power  in  an  altogether  different 
*  Rev.  i.  17,  1 8. 


234  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED 

aspect,  not  an  aspect  of  locality,  but  an  aspect  of 
condition,  an  aspect  of  exaltation  and  glory. 

And  let  it  not  be  said  that  such  a  subject  is 
unprofitable  because  it  is  beyond  our  powers  to 
comprehend  it.  I  am  well  aware  of  that.  I  do 
not  profess  to  comprehend  it,  but  I  know  how  im- 
possible it  is  for  the  human  mind  not  to  exercise 
and  to  vex  itself  about  the  questions  that  arise  out 
of  this  and  kindred  matters,  and  how  from  the  mind 
being  so  exercised  very  serious  obstacles  may  arise 
to  faith,  and  my  object  is,  if  possible,  to  remove 
these  and  similar  obstacles.  The  right  hand  of  God 
must  be  apprehended  as  a  spiritual  condition,  not 
as  a  local  position.  It  expressed  to  the  Jewish 
mind  the  highest  possible  conceptions  of  glory, 
majesty,  power,  dignity  and  the  like.  But  what  to 
the  Jewish  mind  may  have  been  an  assistance  to 
the  conception,  may  be  an  impediment  to  ours.  Let 
us  not  suffer  the  bondage  of  the  letter  to  become  so 
to  us,  but  seek  to  be  delivered  from  it  by  the  freedom 
of  the  spirit. 

There  is  one  interesting  remark,  however,  to  be 
made  here.  We  know  that  St.  Paul  was  present  at 
the  death  of  Stephen.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe 
that  he  was  powerfully  affected  by  that  scene.  We 
are  told  he  was  consenting  unto  his  death,  that  he 
was  standing  by,  and  kept  the  raiment  of  them  that 
slew  him.  He  does  not  seem  to  have  taken  an 
active  part  in  it.  The  seeds  of  conviction  which 
germinated  afterwards  on  the  journey  to  Damascus 


AND  SITTETH  ON  THE  RIGHT  HAND  OF  GOD.   235 

were,  in  all  probability,  sown  at  the  death  of 
Stephen,  and  there  are  sundry  indications  of  the 
influence  wrought  by  the  defence  of  Stephen  on  the 
apostle's  mind.  We  seem  from  time  to  time  to 
come  across  verbal  reminiscences  of  that  speech. 
I  believe  this  is  one  of  them.  Among  the  books 
composing  the  New  Testament,  this  expression  in 
the  Romans  is  probably  the  earliest  reference  to  our 
Lord's  session  we  can  find.'  But  though  the  Acts 
may  have  been  written  later,  it  is  clear  that  the 
events  recorded  in  the  seventh  chapter  must  have 
happened  earlier,  and  in  point  of  time  there  is  no 
statement  of  the  truth  in  question  so  early  as  that 
in  the  dying  words  of  Stephen. 

Believing  therefore,  as  we  do,  that  the  vision 
vouchsafed  to  the  first  martyr  was  an  actual  revela- 
tion, and  believing  that,  under  the  circumstances 
there  was,  humanly  speaking,  adequate  cause  for  such 
a  revelation  to  be  vouchsafed,  we  are  led  up  at  once 
not  only  to  the  probable  source  of  St.  Paul's  various 
statements,  about  the  condition  of  our  Lord  in 
glory,  but  also  to  the  actual  foundation  of  those 
statements  not  in  the  voluntary  speculations  of  the 
human  mind,  but  in  the  true  and  actual  revelation 
of  the  glorified  Son  of  God.  We  can  only  know 
where  and  how  He  is  now — what  was  the  position 
He  assumed  after  His  ascension,  by  His  graciously 
vouchsafing  to  reveal  it.  If  He  has  revealed  it,  then 
we  know  it  with  the  assurance  of  absolute  cer- 
tainty.    And  that  he  has  revealed  it  we  have  the 


236  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

authority  of  St.  Luke  in  the  Acts,  for  the  fact, 
together  with  the  possible  reminiscence  of  the  event 
recorded  in  the  words  before  us. 

For  it  can  hardly  be  needful  to  allude  to  the 
verbal  discrepance  between  Jesus  sitting  at  the  right 
hand  of  God,  as  He  is  commonly  represented,  and 
His  standing  there  as  Stephen  saw  Him.  The  vivid 
change  of  attitude  has  always  been  thought,  and 
rightly,  to  denote  that  accession  of  interest  which 
might  fitly  be  supposed  to  characterise  the  Lord's 
position  as  witnessing  the  death  of  His  first  martyr, 
a  thought  which  has  found  expression  in  our  own 
collect,^  which  speaks  of  Jesus  as  "  standing  at  the 
right  hand  of  God  to  succour  all  those  who  suffer 
for  Him." 

For  those  eighteen  centuries  past,  the  Lord  has 
not  been,  if  we  may  so  say,  an  unimpassioned  or  at 
all  events  an  unconcerned  spectator  of  the  fortunes 
of  His  Church.  But  every  deed  of  blood,  and  every 
act  of  faith,  has  had  Him  for  a  witness  and  a  suc- 
courer,  not  indeed  by  restraining  the  lawlessness  and 
fury  of  the  adversary  any  more  than  it  was  restrained 
at  the  death  of  Stephen,  but  by  sending  forth  supplies 
of  spiritual  strength  and  consolation  with  the  fore- 
taste of  glory  which  was  given  then,  and  by  making, 
as  was  notably  the  case  then,  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs  to  be  the  fruitful  seed  of  the  Church. 

But  there  is  yet  another  thought  which  we  must 
not  pass  by,  which  is  that  of  our  Lord's  intercession 

»  For  St.  Stephen's  Day. 


AND  SITTETH  ON  THE  RIGHT  HAND  OF  GOD.    237 

on  our  behalf,  which  is  sometimes,  as  here,  conjoined 
with  that  of  His  session  at  God's  right  hand.  This 
also  I  feel  sure  is  open  to  misconception,  and  is 
likely  to  lead  to  fatal  and  pernicious  error.  The 
notion,  I  fancy,  which  is  commonly  derived  from  our 
Lord's  intercession,  is  one  which  as  it  seems  to  me 
can  only  do  dishonour  to  the  glory  of  God,  or  at 
least  which  may  serve  to  bring  apparent  honour  to 
Christ,  at  the  expense  of  the  honour  due  to  God. 
The  idea  of  intercession  is  too  apt  to  suggest  that 
of  an  offended  and  angry  being,  who  is  only  with 
reluctance  won  over  to  lay  by  his  wrath  upon  the 
intercession  of  another  being,  who  is  intrinsically 
more  merciful  than  he.  I  would  not  hesitate  to  say 
that  I  can  only  regard  this  as  a  notion  at  once 
unworthy  of  the  nature  of  God  and  of  the  work  of 
Christ. 

It  may  help  us  to  a  better  conception  of  this 
matter,  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  the  same  expression 
in  a  yet  stronger  form  is  applied  by  St.  Paul  in  the 
same  chapter  of  this  same  epistle  to  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  which  is  here  applied  to  Christ ;  when. 
he  says  the  Spirit  itself  maketh  intercession  for  us 
with  groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered}  I  am  not 
aware  that  any  one  has  ever  misconceived  of  the 
Spirit's  office  in  a  similar  way  from  the  application  of 
this  expression  to  it.  We  never  imagine  that  any 
natural  reluctance  on  the  part  of  God  is  overcome 
by   the   Spirit's    intercession  on  our   behalf.     Then 

*  Rom.  viii.  26. 


238  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

why  should  we  imagine  it  of  Christ  ?  Is  not  the 
Holy  Spirit  the  very  gift  of  God,  and  how  can  the 
gift  be  mightier  than  the  giver,  or  how  should  it 
prevail  against  the  giver  ?  Was  it  not  God  that  sent 
the  Son  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world  ?  How  then 
can  that  be  a  just  and  adequate  representation  of 
the  work  of  Christ,  which  conceives  of  it  as  a  salva- 
tion out  of  the  hands  of  God,  rather  than  a  salvation 
by  bringing  back  to  the  love  of  His  mercy  and 
grace. 

Again,  another  passage  in  the  epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  already  referred  to,  is  not  without  its 
bearing  on  this  matter,  that,  namely,  which  speaks 
of  Christ  entering  into  heaven  itself  now  to  appear 
in  the  presence  of  God  for  us}  Surely  it  is  this 
which  contains  the  key  to  the  whole  matter.  We 
are  on  earth,  God  is  in  heaven.  We  have  not  as 
yet  access  to  heaven,  but  we  have  One  three  in 
substance  of  our  nature  to  appear  on  our  behalf; 
He  is  our  advocate,  our  intercessor,  our  representa- 
tive, our  substitute  ;  He  is  all  that  these  words  feebly 
endeavour  to  express,  and  more  than  all  that  they 
convey,  but  we  must  beware  of  suffering  the  lan- 
guage chosen  to  bind  us  in  a  servile  manner  to  the 
rigid  significance  of  the  letter,  otherwise  what  was 
designed  as  a  help  will  only  becom  a  hindrance. 

I  speak,  of  course,  mainly  for  myself.  I  cannot 
answer  for  others.  It  is  possible  that  you  may  have 
no  experience  of  the  same  difficulties.     To  me  a  too 

*  Heb.  ix.  24. 


AND  SITTETH  ON  THE  RIGHT  HAND  OF  GOD.    239 

literal  acceptation  of  such  terms  as  intercession, 
advocate,  and  the  like,  would  have  the  effect  of 
throwing  so  much  of  the  haze  of  uncertainty  and 
inefficiency  over  the  work  of  Christ  as  would  suffice 
practically  to  rob  that  work  of  its  real  completeness. 
And  this  I  believe  to  be  at  once  fatal  to  that  accept- 
ance of  the  Gospel  message,  which  is  essential  unto 
life,  and  also  to  be  out  of  harmony  and  agreement 
with  analogous  statements  of  holy  Scripture,  which 
are  surely  characteristic  of  its  general  tenor. 

For  example,  in  this  very  chapter,  full  as  it  is  of 
glorious  hope,  we  have  this  assurance  to  start  with. 
There  ts,  therefore,  now  no  condejnnation  to  them  that 
are  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  again  here.  Who  is  he  that 
condemneth  ?  Verily,  if  there  is  one  thought  which 
the  writer  is  anxious  to  bring  home,  it  is  this,  the 
very  elimination  and  abolition  of  condemnation. 
But  if  condemnation  is  done  away,  and  if  there  is 
none  to  condemn,  where  is  the  place  for  further 
advocacy  or  intercession  }  Certainly  nowhere,  if  by 
such  advocacy  and  intercession  is  implied  any  the 
smallest  degree  of  reluctance  on  the  part  of  God 
yet  remaining  to  be  overcome. 

But  it  is  not  so,  for  Christ's  is  a  finished  salvation. 
The  pardon  He  administered  was  a  pardon  absolute 
and  unconditional,  a  pardon  which  is  neither  to  be 
revoked  nor  suspended,  which  is  not  to  be  more  free 
and  complete  hereafter,  but  is  free  and  complete 
now.  And,  therefore,  His  advocacy  and  intercession 
is  not   something   ambiguous,   tentative,  ineffettual, 


240  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

incomplete,  but  an  eternal,  infinite,  and  complete  in- 
tercession, partaking  of  the  essence  of  all  His  work. 

And  I  know  no  truth  so  important  to  enun- 
ciate and  inculcate  in  the  present  day  as  this.  The 
high  priesthood  of  Christ  is  an  accomplished  high 
priesthood,  exemplified  and  attested  by  His  position 
at  God's  right  hand  as  the  eternal  mediator.  There 
remaineth  no  more  offering  for  sin  as  there  remaineth 
no  more  condemnation  in  the  conscience.  It  is  an 
evil  day  for  the  Church  of  England,  and  an  evil  day 
for  the  Church  of  Christ  when  there  is  any  hesita- 
tion  or  uncertainty  on  this  matter.  Sin  is  either 
put  away,  or  its  defilement  remains.  The  death  of 
Christ,  either  put  it  away  once  for  all,  for  each,  and 
for  all  of  us,  or  it  failed  to  do  so  and  left  some  of 
it  for  us  to  put  away  ourselves,  by  the  monstrous 
paraphernalia  of  sacraments,  confession,  penance, 
priestcraft,  and  what  not. 

We  must  determine,  brethren,  in  this  our  day, 
which  of  the  two  Gospels  we  will  believe  ;  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ,  who  offers  us  a  full  and  free  pardon 
upon  the  exercise  of  direct  personal  faith  in  Him,  or 
the  gospel  of  the  priest,  in  which  forsooth  Christ 
will  communicate  Himself  to  us  through  His  Church, 
that  is  to  say,  not  immediately  as  Himself  the  one 
only  mediator  between  God  and  man,  to  whom  not 
priest,  saint,  angel,  archangel,  or  virgin  mother  may 
be  added,  but  as  mediating  through  an  endless  suc- 
cession and  continual  repetition  of  sacraments  and 
ordinances,  if  so  be  at  the  last  we  may  perchance 


AND  SITTETH  ON  THE  RIGHT  HAND  OF  GOD.  241 

attain  to  the  fulness  of  that  assurance,  which,  if  it 
is  ever  ours  must  be  ours  eventually  by  the  exer- 
cise, sooner  or  later,  of  direct  personal  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ. 

In  distinct  and  decided  opposition  to  such  a  theory, 
as  I  believe,  was  the  glorious  fact  revealed  of  Christ's 
eternally  complete  and  never  failing  intercession  at 
the  right  hand  of  the  majesty  on  high,  in  the  con- 
templation of  which  the  apostle  asked.  Who  is  He 
that  condejnneth  ?  It  is  Christ  that  died,  yea,  rather 
that  is  risen  again,  who  is  even  at  the  right  hand  of 
God,  Who  also  maketh  intercession  for  us,  heaping 
image  of  confidence  and  assured  hope  upon  image  ; 
and  with  reference  to  which  our  Lord  Himself  said 
it  should  be  the  special  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
convince  the  world  concerning  righteousness^  because 
of  His  own  permanent  entrance  into  the  presence  of 
God  for  us  :  Of  righteousness ^  because  I  go  to  my 
Father  and  ye  see  me  no  more} 

*  John  xvi.  8,  10. 


16 


XXL 

FROM  THENCE  HE  SHALL  COME  TO  JUDGE 
THE   QUICK  AND    THE  DEAD. 

Because  He  hath  appointed  a  day  in  the  which  He  will  judge  the 
world  in  righteousness,  by  that  man  whom  He  hath  ordained,  whereof 
He  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men  in  that  He  hath  raised  Him  from 
the  dead. — Acts.  xvii.  31. 

IT  is  instructing  to  notice  that  those  epistles  of 
St.  Paul,  in  which  perhaps  more  than  in  any 
other,  he  makes  allusion  to  the  coming  of  Christ, 
were  the  epistles  to  the  Thessalonians,  which  in  all 
probability  were  written  shortly  after  his  speech  at 
Athens,  here  recorded  in  the  Acts.  Possibly  the 
persecution  to  which  he  had  recently  been  exposed 
in  Macedonia,  had  had  the  effect  of  turning  his 
thoughts  to  the  time  of  retributive  justice  which  he 
felt  would  surely  come.  However  this  may  have 
been,  there  is  at  all  events,  a  striking  coincidence 
in  the  line  of  thought  presented  to  us  in  the  letters 
and  the  speech. 

The  statement  in  the  text,  moreover,  is  further 
remarkable  in  this  respect,  that  it  bases  the  declared 
certainty  of  the  judgment  to  come  upon  the  assured 
fact  of  the  resurrection  past.  The  doctrine  of  a 
judgment   to  come,  is    not  peculiar  to   Christianity, 


244  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

traces  of  it  are  to  be  found  in  other  religions  as  well  ; 
but  the  announcement  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ, 
is  of  necessity  peculiar  to  Christianity,  and  therefore 
the  announcement  of  judgment  to  come  which  is 
based  upon  it,  must  be  so  likewise  to  such  an 
extent,  and  in  that  particular.  The  notion  of  judg- 
ment to  come,  as  an  element  of  what  may  be  called 
natural  religion,  is  suggested  by,  and  springs  out  of 
the  notion  of  human  responsibility,  of  which  I  fancy 
it  is  extremely  difficult  to  divest  the  mind.  All  must 
admit  that  in  a  sense  we  are  all  responsible.  For 
example,  we  are  all  responsible  to  society,  and  if  we 
violate  the  precepts  of  society,  society  will  make  us 
feel  our  responsibility.  We  are  all  responsible  to 
ourselves.  There  is  a  duty  we  owe  to  ourselves,  and 
every  transgression  of  excess  committed  will  force  us 
to  acknowledge  we  have  failed  to  discharge  it.  And 
then  it  will  be  difficult  for  our  thoughts  the  mean- 
while to  be  neither  accusing  or  else  excusing  one 
another.  But  when  we  get  so  far,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
we  cannot  help  getting  farther  ;  it  is  not  easy  to  avoid 
taking  the  next  step,  that  wherever  there  is  duty, 
there  must  be  one  to  whom  it  is  due  ;  that  if  we 
have  failed  in  our  duty  to  ourselves  it  is  not  we  who 
established  that  line  of  duty,  or  so  constituted  our- 
selves as  to  be  sensible  of  dereliction  from  it;  that 
in  fact  the  sense  of  violated  duty  points  us  to  a  code 
of  duty  external  to  ourselves,  which  we  did  not  in- 
vent, but  to  which  we  owe  allegiance,  and  that  as  we 
did  not  invent  this  code  to  which  conscience  testifies 


HE  SHALL  JUDGE  THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD,    245 

SO  neither  did  the  code  invent  itself;  that  it  is  the 
result  of  an  arrangement  and  adaptation  by  which 
we  are  bound,  and  which  if  it  is  to  be  referred  to 
nature  then  shows  that  we  are  responsible  to  nature 
rather  than  to  an  imaginary  code  ;  in  short,  it  seems 
to  me  that  however  we  define  or  explain  our  respon- 
sibility, it  is  hard  indeed  to  get  rid  of  the  fact  that 
we  are  responsible  :  the  thing  does  not  admit  of 
denial  whatever  we  do  with  the  word. 

Surely,  then,  it  is  impossible  not  to  see  that  a 
foundation  is  laid  in  human  nature  for  the  doctrine 
of  a  judgment  to  come,  which  has  approved  itself  to 
many  nations,  and  been  expressed  in  many  creeds. 

For,  given  the  fact  that  man  is  responsible  to 
some  one  who  is  the  author  of  duty,  and  that  this 
responsibility  is  continually  revealing  itself — though 
indeed  in  an  uncertain  and  irregular  manner — in 
human  life,  it  seems  to  be  necessarily  demanded  in 
proportion  as  the  fact  of  responsibility  is  felt  and 
acknowledged,  that  the  meaning  of  the  fact  should 
ultimately  be  revealed  both  to  the  personal  conscience 
and  to  the  world  at  large.  What  is  every  court  of 
judicature  but  an  earthly  and  very  imperfect  shadow 
of  a  perfect  and  Divine  reality.  The  judge  pro- 
nounces a  sentence,  but  his  sentence,  though  final 
as  regards  this  life  and  present  phase  of  things,  is 
not  final  as  regards  the  inner  world,  which  the  several 
stages  of  the  procedure  have  revealed  and  implied, 
nor  even  as  regards  the  ultimate  ends  of  justice. 
How  few  are  the  criminals  who  are  in  any  degree 


^46  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

bettered  by  the  terrible  discipline  of  crime  and  its 
attendant  punishment ;  but  surely  the  ultimate  ends 
of  justice  must  be  not  merely  punishment,  but  re- 
formation. A  man  is  not  really  judged  in  his  inner 
being  unless  he  has  been  made  not  only  to  feel  and 
confess  he  has  done  wrong,  not  only  obliged  to 
render  such  recompense  as  the  law  may  demand 
and  his  own  ability  provide,  but  also  has  been  set 
right  in  himself  and  delivered  from  the  evil  which 
has  enslaved  him.  It  is  obvious  that  this  must  be 
the  ultimate  purpose  of  Christianity  as  a  remedial 
system,  but  it  is  no  less  obvious  that  such  purpose 
cannot  be  attainable  here  ;  if,  therefore,  it  is  to  be 
attained  at  all,  it  must  be  attained  hereafter.  And 
surely  this  is  a  hope  which  is  not  excluded  from,  but 
encouraged  by  the  thought  of  the  Christian  judgment. 
There  are,  however,  many  associations  connected 
with  that  doctrine,  as  it  is  commonly  apprehended, 
which,  I  think,  are  calculated  to  bring  it  into  dis- 
credit, and  which  do  not  appear  to  be  warranted  by 
the  teaching  of  Scripture.  Let  us  consider,  then, 
what  that  teaching  is.  First  we  have  the  personal 
return  of  Christ — From  tJtence  He  shall  come:  that 
is  to  say,  from  the  highest  heaven  whither  He  is 
ascended,  and  from  the  right  hand  of  the  Father 
where  He  sits.  Then  are  we  to  understand  that 
Christ  will  ever  cease  to  be  at  God's  right  hand  t 
are  we  to  understand  the  highest  heaven  will  cease 
to  contain  the  personal  body  of  the  Lord  ?  These 
and  similar  questions,  which  appear  to  force  them- 


HE  SHALL  JUDGE  THE  QULCK  AND  THE  t)EAD.    247 

selves  on  the  reflective  mind,  go  far  towards  con- 
vincing me  that  we  really  know  very  little  of  this 
matter  because  we  have  been  told  very  little.  We 
may  certainly  determine  that  we  know  nothing  but 
what  we  have  been  told  ;  and  if  it  shall  appear,  as 
it  certainly  does,  that  much  of  what  we  have  been 
told  cannot  possibly  be  understood  literally,  then, 
we  can  only  decide  that  we  know  less  than  we 
thought  we  knew.  In  the  face,  therefore,  of  the 
transcendant  difficulties  of  the  whole  subject,  the 
best  course  seems  to  be  to  cling  fast  to  what  we 
have  been  told  and  to  add  no  more.  For  instance, 
we  have  been  told  over  and  over  again  that  Christ 
shall  return  to  judgment,  but  we  have  not  been  told 
what  that  means  or  what  we  are  to  understand  by 
it.  Undoubtedly  we  have  been  led  to  suppose  that 
whatever  it  means  it  did  receive  a  partial  and  pre- 
liminary fulfilment  at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
and  this  fact  cannot  but  serve  to  modify  to  some 
degree  the  sense  in  which  we  interpret  the  return  of 
Christ.  Still  I  do  not  see  how  it  is  possible  to  do 
away  with  so  clear  a  statement  as  that  of  the  angels 
at  the  ascension.  This  same  Jesus  which  is  taken  up 
from  you  into  heaven  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as 
ye  have  seen  Him  go  into  heaven}  The  return  at  the 
siege  of  Jerusalem  was  in  no  sense  a  fulfilment  of 
this  language,  whatever  else  it  was.  I  hold,  there- 
fore, that  both  by  the  language  of  Scripture  and  that 
of  the  Creed,  we  are  shut  up  to  the  belief  in  a 
*  Actsi.  II. 


248  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

personal  return  of  Christ  of  some  kind.  He  has  too 
often  given  us  to  understand  this  Himself,  in  a  variety 
of  ways,  to  leave  any  impression  but  one  upon  the 
mind.  When,  however,  we  are  told  that  He  shall 
appear  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  in  fiaining  fire,  taking 
vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God  and  that 
obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ}  and 
the  like,  I  am  free  to  confess — and  I  do  so  in  all 
humility  before  God — that  I  do  not  know  what  such 
language  means,  partly  because  of  other  language  in 
Scripture  to  which  manifestly  no  less  deference  is 
due,  and  partly  because  the  logic  of  events  appears 
to  have  warranted  another  interpretation  than  the 
severely  literal  one. 

The  question,  my  beloved  brethren,  is  just  this.  Are 
we  bound  by  the  teaching  of  Scripture  to  expect  a 
tremendous  physical  catastrophe  of  stars  falling,  and 
heavens  shrivelling  like  a  parched  scroll,  and  moun- 
tains falling,  and  seas  dividing  and  the  like,  or  are 
we  taught  by  the  analogy  of  Scripture,  and  of  nature, 
to  believe  that  the  end  will  come  rather  as  the 
beginning  came,  silently,  gradually,  imperceptibly,  as 
when  Simeon  took  up  the  infant  Christ  in  his  arms, 
and  that  its  likeness  to  the  descriptions  given  must 
be  sought  rather  in  the  marvellous  contrast  finally 
presented,  than  in  the  accidents  by  which  it  is 
brought  about. 

And  whether  I  am  right  or  wrong,  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  say  that   my  own   faith  would  be  much 

'  2  Thess.  i.  8. 


HE  SHALL  JUDGE  THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD.    249 

more  easily  confirmed  if  I  thought  this  was  the  tenor 
of  Holy  writ,  than  if  I  supposed  that  the  pictorial 
description  of  the  day  of  judgment  popularly  and 
traditionally  received,  was  to  be  literally  and  minutely 
fulfilled. 

And  I  will  tell  you  why.  Christianity  it  appears 
to  me  has  revealed  God  to  us.  We  no  longer 
worship  an  unknown  God.  We  no  longer  worship 
a  God  whose  presence  is  restricted  to  place.  We 
have  been  told  on  the  highest  authority,  that  God  is 
a  Spirit,  and  that  we  must  worship  Him  in  Spirit. 
Christianity  as  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  revelation  of 
God  in  the  present,  in  the  personal  phenomena  of 
human  life,  in  birth,  in  marriage,  in  death,  in  joy,  in 
sorrow,  in  pain,  in  suffering,  in  trial,  breavement, 
affliction  and  the  like.  Christianity  is  the  revelation 
of  the  Divine  in  man,  through  the  manifestation  of 
One  in  whom  the  human  and  the  Divine  are  per- 
manently, indissolubly,  completely,  and  exceptionally 
united.  We  do  not  wait  for  the  perception  of  a 
material  God,  or  the  entrance  into  a  material  heaven, 
but  for  the  fuller  and  more  complete  realisation 
through  the  Spirit  of  the  nature  and  the  character 
of  God,  and  for,  no  doubt,  the  physical  perception  of 
the  person  of  Christ.  When  this  physical  perception 
is  vouchsafed  to  us,  our  eyes  will  see  the  King  in 
His  beauty^  and  so  far  He  will  at  all  events  have 
come  to  us.  But  when  we  say  that  He  shall  come, 
and   come   from   heaven,  we  must    not    fail    to    re- 

^  Isa.  xxxiii.  17. 


2SO  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

member  who  it  is  that  shall  come,  and  where  and 
what  the  heaven  is,  from  whence  He  shall  come.  It 
is  not  the  unknown  God  who  shall  come,  but  the 
God  whom  we  have  learnt  to  know  through  His 
manifestation  in  Jesus  Christ.  And  as  heaven  is  not 
a  physical,  earthly,  or  material  place,  so  we  do  not 
look  for  the  invasion  of  one  physical  material  place 
by  the  accidents  of  another,  for  the  intrusion  of  an- 
other and  an  unknown  physical  world  upon  our 
present  and  known  world,  but  for  the  more  direct 
and  immediate  presentation  of  the  present  spiritual 
and  eternal  world,  to  the  conscience  and  the  sense 
pf  the  redeemed  and  glorified  Christian. 

Our  Lord  Himself  has  led  us  to  suppose  that  His 
manifestation  at  the  last  will  assume  a  very  different 
character  to  those  who  already  know  Him  and  to 
those  who  knew  Him  not.  To  the  former  He  says, 
And  when  these  things  begin  to  come  to  pasSy  t/ten 
look  up,  and  lift  up  your  heads^  for  your  redeniptio7i 
draweth  nigh}  That  this  world  and  this  life  is  not 
our  all,  none  knows  better  than  the  Christian,  and 
none  hopes  more  ardently  than  he.  What  shall  be 
the  conditions  of  final  transition  from  the  one  to  the 
other,  no  one  knows,  nor,  as  it  seems  to  me,  has  Holy 
Writ  revealed ;  but  this  transition  is  surely  identical 
with  the  coming  of  Christ  and  the  day  of  judgment. 

Does  all  this  seem  hazy  and  unsatisfactory  to  you, 
my  friends  1  If  it  does,  then,  I  counsel  you  to  reject 
it;  only  if  it  seems  to  remove  some  of  the  difficulties 

'  Luke  xxi.  28. 


HE  SHALL  JUDGE  THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD.    251 

that  beset  the  popular  and  material  notions  of  a  tre- 
mendous and  final  catastrophe,  and  to  shed  a  gleam 
of  light  on  some  of  the  most  perplexing  statements  of 
Scripture,  then  do  I  venture  to  offer  it  to  your  con- 
templation. 

We  do  our  Christianity  great  violence,  when  we 
believe  that  Christ  is  absent,  or  forget  that  He  is 
present,  or  cease  to  realise  the  dispensation  of  the 
Spirit,  which  alone  can  help  us  to  perceive  Christ ; 
qnd  if  to  anyone  Christ  shall  come  to  judgment,  it 
will  surely  be  to  those  who  have  had  Him  pleading 
with  them  all  their  lives,  as  a  present  and  living  God 
and  Saviour,  whom  they  in  their  dulness  and  blind- 
ness have  refused  to  hear  and  to  perceive. 

While  however,  as  it  seems  to  me,  Christianity  has 
given  us  no  definite  notion  or  idea  as  to  how  Christ 
shall  come,  or  what  shall  be  the  unmistakable  signs 
of  His  coming,  it  has  placed  the  fact  of  His  future 
manifestation  to  the  world  at  large,  on  the  firm  and 
solid  basis  of  His  resurrection  as  a  past  and  veritable 
fact.  And  we  can  no  more  question  the  one,  than 
we  can  doubt  the  other.  His  resurrection  is  by  all 
Christians  an  acknowledged  fact,  historic  and  inde- 
structible. The  Christ,  then,  who  was  once  seen  by 
mortal  eyes,  shall  by  mortal  eyes  be  seen  again. 
How  we  cannot  tell.  The  language  of  Scripture 
may  be  unintelligible  as  it  often  has  been,  and  I 
believe  is  until  it  has  been  fulfilled,  but  that  a  tim6 
shall  come  when  not  only  believers  shall  see  Him  to 
their  joy,  but  those  who  do  not  believe  in  Him,  shall 


252  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

see  Him  to  their  confusion,  admits,  I  conceive,  of  no 
shadow  of  doubt,  being  established  as  St.  Paul  says, 
or  seems  to  say,  no  less  by  the  Divine  Word  than  by 
the  natural  inference  from  facts. 

And  this  time  shall  be  the  consummation  of  the 
ages,  and  the  day  of  judgment,  when  He  shall  come 
to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead.  The  more  we 
ponder  it  the  more  inconceivable  and  unintelligible 
it  becomes.  Who  are  the  quick,  or  who  shall  they 
be  ?  Those  who  are  alive  at  His  coming  !  What 
a  stupendous  thought,  and  how  impossible  to  grasp 
or  shape  it !  And  yet,  what  is  the  alternative  ? 
Certainly  no  less  difficult  of  conception, — either  that 
the  present  state  of  things  shall  go  on  for  ever  and 
for  ever  in  all  essential  aspects  as  it  is,  or  else  that 
the  race  shall  die  out,  and  the  poet's  vision  be 
realised  of  a  last  man  : — 

•'  I  saw  a  vision  in  my  sleep 
That  gave  my  spirit  strength  to  sweep 
Adown  the  gulf  of  time  ; 
I  saw  the  last  of  human  mould, 
That  shall  Creation's  death  behold, 
As  Adam  saw  her  prime." 

Now  in  the  abstract  it  is  impossible  to  conceive 
of  either  of  these  alternatives  as  being  realised  ; 
whereas  the  statement  that  the  one  man  ordained  by 
God  to  be  the  judge  of  quick  and  dead  shall  come  to 
judge  them,  is  in  itself  antecedently  probable,  and  is 
certainly  not  in  the  abstract  inconceivable,  however 
impossible  it  may  be  for  us  to  determine  or  con- 
ceive the  conditions  under  which  it  shall  take  place. 


HE  SHALL  JUDGE  THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD.    253 

We  arrive,  then,  at  this  result,  that  as  the  declara- 
tion of  Scripture  that  there  shall  be  a  future  judg- 
ment is  based  on  the  instincts  of  human  nature,  and 
corroborated  by  the  verdict  of  the  human  reason, 
when  compared  with  the  only  alternatives  possible 
to  our  conception,  so  the  very  obscurity  of  Scripture, 
which  we  cannot  but  acknowledge,  must  be  regarded 
as  due  to  the  inherent  obscurity  of  the  subject,  and 
the  absolute  impossibility  of  making  it  plain  to  our 
apprehension,  rather  than  to  any  other  cause.  Such 
a  result  may  appear  to  be  superfluous  to  those  who 
are  willing  to  accept  the  statements  of  Scripture, 
whether  they  are  intelligible  or  not ;  but  it  will 
hardly  be  deemed  so  by  those  who  would  be  thankful 
to  accept  the  Scripture  statements  if  only  the  pre- 
liminary obstacles  of  rational  thought  arising  out  of 
those  very  statements  themselves,  could  be  satis- 
factorily removed. 

And  for  the  rest,  brethren,  it  is  a  solemn  matter^ 
which  time  itself  will,  before  long,  reveal  to  all  of  us. 
If  the  history  of  Jesus  Christ  is  not  all  a  fiction, 
which  it  most  unquestionably  cannot  be,  then  we 
shall  each  of  us,  before  very  long,  behold  Him.  In 
Him  will  be  revealed  to  us  the  tremendous  signi- 
ficance of  that  inextinguishable  sense  of  responsi- 
bility which  burns  within  us.  If  His  own  word  is 
true,  then  He  is  the  ultimate  person  to  whom  we  are 
responsible.  He  it  is  to  whom  duty  itself  is  due. 
There  may  be  this  and  that  owing  to  our  fellow- 
creatures,  this  and  that  due  to  ourselves,  but  beneath 


254  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

and  beyond  it  all  there  is  concealed  and  yet  revealed 
an  obligation  which  is  due  to  Him.  He  it  is  who 
has  bound  us  by  this  obligation — me  to  preach, 
you  to  listen,  one  and  all  to  do  the  work  which  what 
we  call  chance  and  circumstance,  profession  and 
vocation,  has  given  us  to  do.  We  all  acknowledge 
certain  duties — duties  to  our  parents,  children, 
brethren,  employers,  servants,  and  the  like.  Will  it 
not  be  a  great  assistance  to  every  earnest  mind 
among  us  to  set  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  always  before 
us,  the  crucified,  risen,  and  ascended  Lord,  as  the 
taskmaster  of  our  work,  the  adjudicator  of  our 
reward,  to  look  to  Him  as  the  one  Being  whom 
we  strive  to  serve,  knowing  that  He  is  not,  like 
our  fellow  man,  hard  to  please,  but  that  He  accepts 
the  pure  intent  and  the  humble  effort,  that  He  does 
not  reap  where  He  has  not  sown,  nor  gather  where 
He  has  not  strawn  ;  but  that,  to  every  one  who 
seeks  His  grace,  and  desires  His  favour,  and  relies 
upon  His  strength,  and  believes  in  His  love  in  life 
and  in  death.  He  will  say  in  the  judgment,  Well 
done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  enter  thou  into  the 
joy  of  thy  Lord} 

*  Matt.  XXV.  21. 


XXII. 

FROM  THENCE  HE  SHALL  COME  TO  JUDGE 
THE   QUICK  AND   THE  DEAD, 

Because  He  hath  appointed  a  day  in  the  which  He  will  judge  the 
v/orld  in'  righteousness  by  that  man  whom  He  hath  ordained,  whereof  He 
hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men  in  that  He  hath  raised  Him  from  the 
dead. — ACTS  xvii.  31. 

THERE  are  two  main  thoughts  which,  though 
closely  connected,  are  yet  separate,  which  are 
suggested  by  the  article  of  the  Creed  we  are  now  con- 
sidering, namely  the  personal  return  of  Christ  and 
the  future  judgment.  The  former  of  them  chiefly 
occupied  us  on  Sunday  last.  To-day  we  will  con- 
cern ourselves  more  especially  with  the  latter. 

It  is  very  frequently  said  that  the  strongest  argu- 
ment for  the  reality  of  a  life  to  come  is  supplied  by 
the  inequalities  of  the  present  life.  It  is  thought 
that  the  conspicuous  injustice  of  the  existing  con- 
dition of  things  can  only  be  redressed  by  the  further 
advantages  of  another  life,  in  which  a  different  system 
will  prevail.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  part  of  the 
popular  doctrine,  which  reasons  thus — that  the  judg- 
ment to  come  will  decide  irrevocably  what  the  cha- 
racter of  that  life  is  to  be. 

But  first,  I   do   not   think  that   the  popular   ex- 


256  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

pedient  of  calling  the  future  life  into  existence  to 
redress  the  balance  of  the  present  derives  any  sane- 
tion  from  the  teaching  of  Scripture.  It  is  at  the 
best  but  a  human  inference  drawn  from  it.  We 
have,  indeed,  in  the  parable  of  the  rich  man  and 
Lazarus  the  words,  Son^  remember  that  thou  in  thy 
lifetime  receivedst  thy  good  things^  and  likewise 
Lazarus  evil  things^  but  now  he  is  comforted  and  thou 
ait  tormented^  which  may  perhaps  appear  to  favour 
such  a  notion ;  but  it  may  be  fairly  questioned 
whether  these  words  are  intended  to  teach  it.  And 
secondly,  though  what  they  do  teach,  which  is 
equivalent  to  the  hope  suggested  by  the  familiar 
promise  that  the  Lord  God  shall  wipe  away  tears 
from  off  all  faces,  is  the  legitimate  and  most  blessed 
consolation  of  the  Word  of  God,  this  is  altogether 
very  different  from  the  argument  in  question.  For, 
granting  that  our  present  brief  existence  here  is  to 
be  succeeded  by  an  eternal  and  unalterable  existence 
hereafter,  I  would  ask,  "  How  is  it  possible  that  any 
just  compensation  for  anything  temporal  can  be  sup- 
plied by  something  which  is  eternal }  how  is  it  pos- 
sible that  the  finite  can  be  in  any  sense  commensurate 
with  the  infinite  } "  St.  Paul  says.  Our  light  affliction^ 
which  is  for  a  moment,  worketk  for  us  a  far  more 
exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory  :^  that  is  in- 
telligible. The  present  pain  is  a  way  to  the  future 
glory.  The  cross  is  the  path  of  life,  death  is  the 
gate,  and  the  condition  of  bliss, — all  that  we  admit. 

*  Luke  xvi.  25.  *  2  Cor.  iv.  1 7. 


HE  SHALL  JUDGE  THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD.    257 

But  in  every  case,  be  it  observed,  the  less  leads  on 
to  the  greater  just  as  the  seed  produces  the  plant, 
and  the  bud  unfolds  the  flower,  but  it  cannot  be  pre- 
tended in  any  case  that  there  is  an  equipoise  or 
equivalent.  Who  would  not  purchase,  and  gladly 
purchase,  endless  felicity  by  the  endurance  of  pain 
which  must  shortly  have  an  end  ?  Who  would  not 
go  through  any  amount  of  suffering  if  with  the 
suffering  he  could  have  the  positive  assurance  of 
eternal  joy?  One  would  necessarily  surpass  the 
other  as  a  grain  of  sand  is  outweighed  by  the  sun 
in  the  heavens.  It  would  be  absurd  to  say  that  the 
one  counterbalanced  the  other. 

But  this  is  far  more  apparent  when  we  con- 
template the  alternative  case.  What  would  be  the 
value  of  a  life  spent  here  filled  to  the  overflow  with 
all  that  life  could  ^\y^ — with  health,  wealth,  ease, 
honour,  luxury,  prosperity,  fame,  power,  eminence, 
and  the  like,  even  supposing  that  the  enjoyment  of  all 
these  things  were  protracted  to  the  utmost  possible 
limit  of  human  existence,  if  all  were  to  be  succeeded 
by  an  eternity  of  hopeless  and  unutterable  misery.^ 
Would  there  be  anything  like  a  counterpoise  in  the 
one  to  the  other  t  Unquestionably  not.  I  venture 
to  say  that  there  is  no  one  in  the  whole  world  who 
would  consent  to  the  enjoyment  upon  such  condi- 
tions of  the  utmost  that  the  world  and  its  fulness 
could  give.  There  is  no  one  who,  upon  having  placed 
fairly  before  him  the  two  alternatives,  endless  bliss 
and  endless  woe,  and  placed  in  such  a  way  that 

17 


258  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

their  reality  could  be  somehow  appreciated,  and  not 
merely  believed  in  as  a  tenet,  would  not  gladly  forego 
present  enjoyment  and  pleasure  of  every  sort  and 
kind,  and  submit  to  present  degradation  and  suffering, 
rather  than  encounter  the  one  or  lose  the  other. 

But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  instances  in  which 
this  extreme  position  of  good  or  evil  is  realised  in 
life  are  very  rare,  and  consequently  it  is  obvious 
that  if  in  the  most  extreme  cases  the  notion  of  a 
counterpoise  utterly  fails,  it  cannot  possibly  hold 
good  in  any  cases  that  are  not  extreme  ;  that  is, 
it  offers  no  solution  whatever  of  the  ordinary  in- 
equalities of  life  to  throw  into  the  scale  for  their 
adjustment  the  prospect  of  a  future  endless  life  in 
which  they  will  be  reversed. 

I  confess  frankly,  therefore,  that  to  my  mind  the 
ordinary  argument  that  there  must  be  a  future  state 
in  which  the  inequalities  of  the  present  one  will  be 
rectified,  fails  utterly  to  come  with  any  force,  if  that 
future  state  is  to  be,  as  it  is  assumed  to  be,  one  of 
unending  bliss  or  woe.  You  will  say  then,  do  you 
mean  us  to  infer  that  under  colour  of  dealing  with 
the  subject  of  judgment  to  come,  you  are  endeavour- 
ing to  destroy  the  notion  of  an  unalterable  future 
state  of  existence?  To  which  imaginary  question  I 
reply  emphatically.  No.  I  am  doing  no  such  thing. 
I  am  not  at  present  going  to  touch  that  question, 
if  I  touch  it  at  all.  What  I  want  to  show  is 
simply  that  the  argument  for  a  judgment  to  come 
which    shall    rectify    all    that    is    wrong    here,    will 


HE  SHALL  JUDGE  THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD.    259 

fail  to  satisfy  any  one  who  reflects  that  the  perma- 
nent readjustment  of  things  upon  a  reversed  basis 
would  offer  no  adequate  compensation.  To  substi- 
tute for  temporal  misery  eternal  felicity,  and  for 
temporal  felicity  eternal  misery,  would  surely  be  at 
the  best  but  a  very  clumsy  way  of  rectifying  the  evil 
of  this  world.  Whatever  cause  the  ideally  good  might 
have  to  be  satisfied  with  their  lot,  the  ideally  wicked, 
as  it  seems  to  me,  would  have  fair  ground  for  impugn- 
ing the  justice  of  God.  And  such  a  conclusion,  if 
it  is  sound,  need  give  us  no  alarm,  supposing  that 
the  misapprehension  from  which  it  springs  is  the 
result  of  our  own  systematic  theology  and  not  of  the 
teaching  of  Scripture. 

Now  here  again  we  must  observe  that  the  subject 
is  one  of  profound  and  hopeless  obscurity,  nor  do  we 
pretend  for  one  moment  to  throw  any  light  upon  it, 
except  so  far  as  we  can  gather  light  from  Scripture 
itself  Neither  are  we  about  to  propound  any  other 
theory  which  is  to  replace  the  popular  one ;  we  de- 
sire rather  to  disabuse  the  mind  of  theories  altogether. 
It  is  against  the  popular  theories  and  the  popular 
notions  of  a  rigid  and  inflexible  system  that  we 
protest,  because  we  are  conscious  of  their  baneful 
influence  upon  the  free  action  of  our  faith  and  desire 
to  substitute  for  them  the  simple  elemental  principles 
of  Holy  Writ. 

And  these,  as  it  seems  to  me,  are  few  and  obvious. 
For  example, .  there  comes  first  of  all  that  grand 
foundation   principle — the  spontaneous  utterance  of 


26p  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

the  father  of  the  faithful,  and  the  guiding  star  of  his 
own  faith  and  hope,  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the 
earth  do  right  ?^  to  which  may  be  added  the  cor- 
relative question,  "  Is  it  possible  that  He  can  do 
wrong  ? "  Each  of  these  questions  admits  of  but 
one  answer.  Then,  if  that  is  the  case,  the  restless 
and  perplexing  debates  of  our  own  mind  may  surely 
have  an  end.  The  Judge  of  all  the  earth  cannot  do 
do  wrong — He  can  only  do  right.  That  is  the  first 
principle. 

'  -  Then  follows  the  second,  which  seems  to  me  to 
be  no  less  plainly  taught  in  Scripture,  even  if  it  be 
not  explicitly  enunciated.  And  it  is  this:  God's 
notion  of  right  and  wrong  can  only  be  the  comple- 
ment of  ours.  Ponder  that.  I  do  not  say  that  our 
notion  of  right  and  wrong  must  necessarily  be  the 
measure  of  God's,  for  that  may  be  open  to  question  ; 
but  I  do  say  that  God's  notion  can  only  be  the 
complement  of  ours.  And  I  will  shew  you  presently 
what  I  mean  ;  but  first  I  want  you  to  apprehend  the 
opposite  principle — which  is  frequently  adopted  in 
the  place  of  this, — which  is  that  God's  notion  of 
right  and  wrong  must  be  something  essentially  dif- 
ferent from  ours  ;  that  we  can  form  no  idea  of  what 
to  the  mind  of  God  would  be  either  right  or  wrong ; 
that  we  can  frame  no  adequate  conception  of  the 
Divine  justice.  Now,  these  are  the  two  antagonistic 
principles  which  lie  at  the  root  of  all  our  miscon- 
ceptions on  the  matter  before   us.     And  I  do  not 

*  Gen.  xiii.  25. 


HE  SHALL  JUDGE  THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD.    261 

hesitate  to  say  that  this  last  principle,  while  it 
appears  to  be  the  more  humble-minded  and  pious 
of  the  two,  is  in  itself  most  pernicious  and  absolutely 
fatal,  not  only  to  our  worship  of  God,  but  to  our 
acceptance  of  His  Word.  How  can  I  worship  a  God 
of  whom  I  do  not  know  but  that  His  conception  of 
justice  may  be  something  diametrically  opposed  to 
mine  ?  If  He  has  the  absolute  and  arbitrary  deter- 
mination of  what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong,  how 
can  I  have  any  confidence  in  my  approach  to  Him  ? 
And  what  is  more,  how  can  His  revelation  have  any 
ground  of  approach  to  me,  if  it  does  not  appeal  to 
those  very  notions  and  elemental  conceptions  of 
right  and  wrong  which  He  has  Himself  planted  in 
my  moral  nature  ?  It  is  because  He  has  endowed 
me  with  a  moral  sense,  which  however  imperfectly  and 
inadequately  reflects  His  own,  and  is  not  opposed  to 
it,  that  He  by  His  Word  can  find  in  me  a  foundation 
on  which  its  acceptance  may  be  built.  Surely  to 
every  thoughtful  mind  this  can  only  be  self-evident. 
God's  Word  is  God's  Word,  not  because  it  contradicts 
my  sense  of  justice  and  right,  but  because  it  fufils 
and  confirms  it.  What  else  does  our  Lord  imply 
when  he  says,  Yea,  and  why  even  of  yotcrselves 
judge  ye  not  what  is  right  f^  and  again,  Judge  not 
according  to  the  appearance,  but  judge  righteous  judg- 
ment}'^ Is  not  this  the  very  accusation  that  He  brings 
against  the  Jews  when  He  tells  them,  Ye  seek  to  kill 
Me  because  My  word  hath  no  place  in  yoiO.^  They  had 

*  Luke  xii.  57.  ''■  John  vii.  24.  '  John  viii.  37. 


262  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

quenched  the  natural  God -given  light  of  justice  and 
right  within,  and  so  were  incompetent  to  judge  of 
Him  ;  but  not  because  His  sense  of  right  wasone  which 
was  essentially  opposed  to  any  they  could  attain  to. 
Having  then  arrived  at  these  two  elemental  prin- 
ciples, first,  that  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  can  only 
do  what  is  right,  and  that  His  idea  of  right  must 
be  the  complement,  not  the  contradiction  of  ours, 
we  go  one  step  further,  and  proceed  to  contem- 
plate the  scene  which  meets  us  here,  and  over  which 
most  undoubtedly  the  Bible  has  thrown  no  veil — 
the  scene,  that  is,  of  iniquity,  oppression,  injustice, 
misery,  and  vice.  The  reconciliation  of  this  condition 
of  things  as  a  matter  of  fact  with  the  belief  in  the 
rule  of  a  great  and  righteous  God,  was  the  ever- 
present  and  vexing  problem  of  the  saints  of  old. 
This  it  was  that  tormented  David  and  his  fellow- 
psalmists,  Thus  my  heart  was  grieved^  and  it  went 
even  through  my  reins.  ^  This  it  was  that  confounded 
righteous  Job,  and  to  this  problem  the  Old  Testa- 
ment presented  nothing  more  than  a  partial  solution. 
The  book  of  Job  itself  was  the  nearest  approxima- 
tion to  a  solution.  It  was  reserved  for  the  Gospel 
to  present  the  fullest  solution  yet  proposed,  and  a 
solution  which,  as  far  as  the  present  condition  of 
things  admits,  is  also  entirely  complete.  It  is  not, 
however,  a  theoretical  but  a  practical  solution,  the 
solution  which  is  derived  from  the  actual  participa- 
tion of  the  Lord  of  all  in  the  evil  to  which  He  has 

^  Ps.  Ixxiii.  21,  cf.  Ps.  XXX viu,  etc. 


^E  SHALL  JUDGE  THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD.    263 

subjected  His  creatures.  But  to  this  problem  the 
saints  of  old  had  nothing  they  could  bring,  except 
their  indomitable  faith  that  a  time  would  come  when 
God  would  make  His  purpose  plain,  that  He  might 
be  justified  in  His  saying,  and  be  clear  when  He 
was  judged.  Only  here,  observe,  it  was  still  man's 
instinctive  sense  of  justice  and  right  that  was  to 
pronounce  God  just.  His  notion  of  justice  was  not 
something  radically  different  from  and  opposed  to 
man's,  otherwise  man  would  never  be  competent  to 
pronounce  Him  just,  but  it  was  the  highest  develop- 
ment of  man's  own  moral  sense  to  which  when 
rightly  and  perfectly  informed  man  himself  would 
offer  homage. 

Then  there  enters  in  here  another  fact.  We  are 
placed  for  the  present  in  an  imperfect  condition  of 
things  in  which  we  have  and  can  have  only  imper- 
fect and  inadequate  information.  If  we  knew  the 
whole  our  verdict  would  be  different  from  what  it 
often  is,  not  because  the  principles  on  which  we 
should  pronounce  it  would  be  altered,  but  because 
we  should  be  better  informed  and  have  some  ground 
to  build  upon.  Did  we  know  more,  we  should 
frequently  not  have  to  wait  for  a  future  readjust- 
ment of  things  to  make  them  straight,  but  should 
see  that  they  were  far  straighter  than  we  supposed 
already.  Were  this  information  to  be  supplied  now, 
such  would  be  our  judgment,  and  it  would  coincide 
with  God's.  But  when  the  day  of  revelation  comes 
this  information  shall  be  supplied,  and  then  we  shall 


264  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

confess  that  He  is  righteous  in  all  His  ways,  and 
holy  in  all  His  works,  then  we  shall  lift  up  the  chant 
of  the  redeemed,  Great  and  marvellous  are  Thy  works 
Lord  God  Almighty ,  just  and  true  are  Thy  ways  thou 
Ki7tg  of  Saints} 

For  the  present  then,  as  of  old,  we  have  nothing 
to  sustain  us,  but  what  the  saints  of  God  in  all  ages 
have  had — our  faith.  This  faith,  however,  consists 
not  so  much  in  believing  that  a  particular  subversion 
of  everything,  a  putting  of  bitter  for  sweet,  and  sweet 
for  bitter  will  take  place,  of  which  we  can  form  no 
definite  idea  because  the  foundation  on  which  to 
form  one  has  not  been  revealed,  as  in  resting  in  the 
conviction  that  One  who  is  perfect  in  knowledge  and 
in  judgment  is  dealing  with  us,  that  He  can  make 
no  mistakes  and  cannot  be  party  to  a  miscarriage  of 
justice. 

But,  furthermore,  there  are  two  other  considera- 
tions to  sustain  us.  The  first  is  that  we  are  in 
possession  of  all  the  light  that  is  shed  upon  this 
matter  from  the  cross  of  Christ.  This  is  a  present 
and  not  a  future  light.  Our  Lord  said  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  should  convince  the  world  about  jijdg- 
ment,  because  the  Prince  of  this  world  had  been 
judged.  The  cross  of  Christ  was  the  judgment  of 
this  world.  It  was  the  practical  and  present  sub- 
version of  all  things,  it  gave,  therefore,  once  for  all, 
that  readjustment  of  all  things  which  the  popular 
notion  relegates  to  the  indefinite  future.  It  put 
^  Rev.  XV.  3. 


HE  SHALL  JUDGE  THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD.    265 

everything  in  a  new  light,  it  assigned  a  fresh  valua- 
tion to  all  that  the  world  held  precious,  it  showed 
the  Divine  estimate  of  pain,  suffering,  and  death,  it 
proved  that  the  utmost  degradation  and  rejection  of 
man  could  coexist  with  infinite  nearness  and  dear- 
ness  to  God.  It  threw,  therefore,  into  all  such 
humiliation  and  suffering,  into  every  lot  of  trial  and 
sorrow,  and  every  passage  of  death,  the  possible 
element  of  dearness  and  nearness  to  God.  Thus  tJie 
cross  of  Christ  went  very  far  towards  anticipating  the 
verdict  of  the  judgment. 

But  the  cross  itself  was  but  part  of  a  whole.  The 
cross  itself  was  nothing  without  the  resurrection.  It 
was  the  condition  and  the  passage  to  the  resurrec- 
tion. It  is  the  resurrection  which  itself  shed  glory 
on  the  cross.  It  is  in  the  light  of  the  resurrection, 
and  in  that  alone,  that  we  can  interpret  or  under- 
stand the  cross.  Without  the  resurrection  the  cross 
is  an  unsolved  mystery.  But  the  two  together  are 
the  prelude  of  the  judgment,  because  God  hath 
appointed  a  day  in  the  which  He  will  judge  the 
world  in  righteousness  by  that  man  whom  He  hath 
ordainedy  whereof  He  hath  given  assurance  unto  all 
men  in  that  He  hath  raised  Him  from  the  dead. 
Not  only  is  the  judgment  based  upon  the  resur- 
rection, but  the  resurrection  is  the  earnest  of  the 
judgment. 

And  from  the  analogy  of  the  light  which  it  thro^ys 
upon  the  cross  we  can  understand  something  of  the 
nature  of  the  judgment.     It  shall  be  the  revelation 


266  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

of  all  mysteries,  the  solution  of  all  problems.  In 
the  light  of  it  we  shall  see  light  thrown  on  all  that 
is  most  obscure ;  even  every  tangled  path  through 
the  brushwood  which  hides  the  daylight  will  be 
glorified  by  the  influx  of  Divine  light  and  perfect 
knowledge,  for  then  we  shall  know  even  as  also  we 
are  known. 

Surely,  then,  we  may  regard  the  judgment  less 
after  the  manner  of  an  irrevocable  sentence,  an 
unalterable  doom,  than  as  a  vast  accession  of  light 
and  knowledge,  in  which  we  shall  behold  not  only 
a  part  but  the  relation  of  the  part  to  the  whole  ; 
not  only  the  appearances  which  confuse  and  distort 
the  vision  but  the  realities  which  will  enable  us  to 
judge  righteous  judgment.  Then  not  only  the  mean- 
ing of  the  problem  will  be  revealed,  but  the  result 
also  of  the  discipline  will  be  declared  ;  then  not  only 
the  complex  machinery  of  the  clock  will  be  exposed 
to  view,  but  the  veil  being  withdrawn  from  its  face, 
we  shall  be  able  to  read  the  hour  indicated  on  the 
dial-plate  of  eternity.  We  shall  know  not  only 
wherefore  the  trial  was,  but  also  whereto  it  has  led, 
and  then  man's  judgment,  which  at  present  goes 
limping  and  halting  after  God's,  will  overtake  and 
keep  pace  with  it,  and  nature  herself  shall  take  up 
the  chorus  of  rejoicing,  and  the  floods  clap  their  hands ^ 
and  the  hills  be  joyful  together  before  the  Lord,  when 
He  Cometh  to  judge  the  earth,  and  with  righteousness 
to  judge  the  world,  and  the  people  with  equity.  ^ 
*  Ps.  xcviii.  8,  9. 


XXIII. 

HE  SHALL   COME   TO  JUDGE  THE   QUICK 
AND  THE  DEAD, 

We  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,  that  every- 
one may  receive  the  things  done  in  his  body  according  to  that  he  hath 
done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad. — 2  Cor.  v.  10. 

THERE  is  yet  another  aspect  of  the  judgment 
to  come,  upon  which  I  desire  to  dwell,  before 
passing  on  to  the  next  article  of  the  Creed,  and  that 
is  the  aspect  which  was  briefly  mentioned  at  the 
close  of  my  sermon  on  Sunday  last,  namely,  that 
the  judgment  will  be  the  declaration  or  manifesta- 
tion of  our  truest  actual  self.  This  is  really  the  most 
solemn  and  practical  aspect  of  all,  not,  perhaps,  the 
most  startling  and  sensational,  or,  therefore,  that  upon 
which  the  popular  mind  is  most  willing  to  dwell,  but 
by  far  the  most  tremendous  aspect,  and  that  which 
bears  most  directly  on  our  personal  and  daily  life. 

For  is  it  not  an  awful  thought  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  separate  the  present  moment  from  its 
ultimate  issues  in  the  world  beyond  the  grave  ? 
What  you  and  I  are  in  the  habit  of  doing  day  by 
day,  of  speaking  from  time  to  time,  and  of  think- 
ing moment  by  moment,  all  this  is  imperceptibly 
but  inevitably   moulding    the   form   and  fashion   of 


268  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

that  character  which  we  must  bear  for  ever.  But  is 
not  this  the  case  ?  It  is  certain  that  in  this  life  we 
cannot  shut  off  our  existence  as  it  were  in  compart- 
ments, so  that  one  portion  shall  be  wholly  discon- 
nected from  another.  The  child  is  father  of  the 
man.  The  dispositions  which  are  manifested  and 
encouraged  in  childhood,  the  habits  which  are 
formed,  the  practices  which  are  acquired  in  early 
youth,  constitute  a  part  of  our  future  life.  So 
certainly  and  undoubtedly  is  this  the  fact  that  we 
are  all  more  or  less  aware  of  the  importance  and 
necessity  of  education  and  early  training,  but  I 
believe  that  we  are  none  of  us  sufficiently  aware 
of  it,  or  what  is  but  a  corollary  of  the  same  truth, 
of  the  prime  importance  of  daily  and  hourly  habit. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  most  supple  of  our  joints, 
if  retained  too  long  in  the  same  position,  will  lose 
their  suppleness  and  become  rigidly  fixed.  And  if 
it  is  so  with  the  body,  it  is  not  otherwise  with  its 
counterpart,  the  mind  or  the  spiritual  character. 
The  man  who  forms  the  habit  of  giving  expression 
to  the  first  thought  that  comes  into  his  mind,  or 
rather  who  continually  does  so  till  it  insensibly 
becomes  a  habit  finds,  sooner  or  later,  to  his  sorrow 
and  pain,  that  this  habit  of  expression  has  got  the 
mastery  of  him,  and  he  has  lost,  when  he  most 
requires  it,  the  power  of  self-restraint.  The  mightiest 
tree  in  all  the  forest  was  capable,  when  a  sapling,  of 
being  bent  and  directed  to  almost  any  extent,  but 
left  to  its  own  spontaneous  growth  and  to  none  but 


HE  SHALL  JUDGE  THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD.    269 

natural  influences,  it  has  followed  the  guidance  of 
those  influences,  and  become  the  inflexible,  unalter- 
able thing  it  is.  Would  that  we  could  all  remember 
what  an  allegory  this  is  of  human  character  and  con- 
duct. It  is  impossible  but  that  the  thoughts  we 
think  in  our  inexpressive  secret  hearts,  the  words 
we  utter  to  our  familiar  companions,  the  manners 
we  assume  in  our  intercourse  with  our  fellows  and 
with  the  world  should  congeal  and  crystallise  till 
they  are  beyond  all  control,  and  should  stamp  them- 
selves upon  our  being  and  our  life,  till  they  give  us 
what  we  call  our  character. 

For  character  is  but  the  result  of  habit,  and  it  is 
this  thought  and  the  subsequent  thought  that  judg- 
ment is  but  the  manifestation  of  character,  that  the 
true  and  inevitable  issue  of  character  will  be  revealed 
in  the  judgment  to  come,  that  I  want  to  lay  before 
you  this  morning. 

And  you  will  at  once  observe  that  this  is  not 
necessarily  a  religious  matter  at  all,  but  a  most 
ordinary  commonplace  matter-of-fact  aflair  which 
concerns  us  all  alike.  People,  as  a  rule,  dislike 
religion  and  religious  topics;  and  the  preacher  who 
would  be  popular  in  the  present  day  must  avoid 
religion  as  much  as  he  can,  and  discourse  on  any 
subject  in  which  people  take  an  interest.  I  have 
no  intention,  however,  of  avoiding  religion,  properly 
so  called,  but  only  at  the  present  time  of  showing 
you  that  what  you  may  probably  regard  as  a  purely 
religious  subject,  namely,  the  judgmentta^co«ie„js 

i^A^    oar  ^^\,Jj 


270  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

not  necessarily  a  religious  subject  at  all.  I  want  to 
make  everyone  feel  that  what  he  or  she  is  at  this  pre- 
sent moment,  is  simply  the  result  of  habit.  You  have 
grown  up  in  certain  habits,  have  acted  repeatedly  in  a 
certain  way,  and  done  certain  things  time  after  time, 
and  these  have  become  habitual ;  they  have  overlaid 
your  nature  till  they  have  fitted  and  confined  you 
like  a  habit,  for  the  habit  or  garment  which  we  wear 
on  the  body  is  but  a  figure  and  emblem  of  the  habit 
which  we  adopt  in  our  mental  and  moral  being,  and 
which  becomes  thicker  and  thicker  till  it  disfigures 
and  deforms  our  personal  existence,  and  so  shapes 
our  character.  I  was  told  there  were  not  ten  people 
here  who  understood  my  sermon  on  Sunday  last. 
Now  if  this  was  really  the  case,  which  I  can  scarcely 
believe,  for  I  spoke  as  plainly  as  I  could,  why  was 
it  ?  Simply  for  this  reason,  that  almost  all  people 
have  got  the  habit  of  looking  at  religion  and  religious 
subjects  in  a  kind  of  fictitious  and  unreal  way,  as 
though  the  things  of  the  world  to  come  were 
removed  as  far  as  possible  from  the  things  of  this 
world.  Now,  I  want  to  disabuse  the  people  who 
come  here  of  this  habit,  and  especially  I  want  to 
show  you  to-day  that  in  all  you  think  and  speak 
and  do  you  are,  unconsciously  it  may  be,  but 
assuredly  and  inevitably,  laying  up  a  minute  and 
imperceptible  portion  of  that  vast  and  immeasurable 
result  which  the  day  of  judgment  will  reveal.  Judg- 
ment is  the  declaration  of  character.  The  judgment  to 
come  will  be  the  day  of  revelation  ;  it  will  reveal 


HE  SHALL  JUDGE  THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD,    271 

our  character.  And  character  is  like  the  coral  reef. 
An  insect  so  small  as  to  be  inconsiderable,  if  not 
imperceptible,  as  but  for  the  brightness  of  its  colour 
it  often  would  be,  is  able  in  a  succession  of  moments, 
each  of  which  is  inappreciable  as  it  flies,  to  build 
up  a  vast  accumulation  of  matter  hard  as  rock,  which 
is  capable  of  withstanding  the  utmost  fury  of  the 
raging  mighty  ocean,  of  forming  a  secure  dwelling- 
place  for  man,  and  of  shattering  the  proudest  trophies 
of  mechanical  skill.  The  coral  reef  is  the  outcome 
of  successive  and  continuous  repetitions,  each  one  of 
which  is  so  small  and  inconsiderable  that  if  taken 
alone  it  might  be  disregarded ;  but  we  cannot  take 
them  alone,  each  has  a  relation  definite  and  indis- 
soluble to  every  other,  and  all  that  we  can  estimate 
is  the  marvellous  result. 

It  is  so  with  character.  In  early  youth  an  in- 
ability to  appreciate  the  difference  between  truth 
and  falsehood  is  manifested  in  a  tendency,  not,  it 
may  be  to  perpetrate  an  actual  lie,  but  rather  to 
look  at  things  in  a  false  light,  to  distort  and  to 
misrepresent  them.  This  tendency  is  unchecked, 
perhaps  it  is  unperceived  by  fond  and  inexperi- 
enced parents  and  teachers;  or  the  habit,  in  spite  of 
all  their  efforts,  develops  itself  till  the  man  enters 
into  life  with  the  character  confirmed  and  fully 
set.  Everything  which  concerns  himself  is  re- 
garded in  this  false  light,  is  so  represented  and 
expressed,  till  without  being  able  to  say  that  in  any 
given  point  the  man  has  spoken  or  acted  falsely,  it 


272  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

is  patent  to  all  who  have  dealings  with  him  that 
nowhere  has  he  spoken  or  acted  strictly  in  accord- 
ance to  truth.  Want  of  truthfulness  is  much  more 
common  than  actual  falsehood,  for  the  one  is  capable 
of  immediate  detection  and  calls  for  immediate 
exposure,  but  the  other  is  ingenious  enough  to  elude 
detection  and  cannot  be  exposed.  The  consequence 
is  that  no  character  is  so  dangerous  as  this,  because 
no  man's  conduct  and  no  man's  life  can  be  proof 
against  misrepresentation.  More  harm  may  be  done 
by  a  few  apparently  undesigned  and  casual  words 
than  it  is  possible  to  undo  by  the  undeviating  con- 
duct of  many  years.  Surely,  if  anywhere,  there  must 
be  a  judgment  here.  It  is  impossible  that  the  jus- 
tice of  the  Searcher  of  all  hearts  and  the  discoverer 
of  their  intents  can  ultimately  overlook  iniquity  so 
gross.  The  day  of  reckoning  must  come,  and  when 
it  comes  it  will  come  with  speed  swiftly.  But  mean- 
while the  judgment  is  infallibly  shaping  itself  and 
compassing  its  own  ends.  For  what  is  the  bare 
possession  of  such  a  character  incompetent  to  dis- 
tinguish actual  truth  from  virtual  falsehood,  utterly 
unable  to  see  the  extent  to  which  self  enters  into  all 
matters  of  personal  concern  and  interest,  but  in 
itself  a  very  judgment  on  him  who  has  it  ?  Is  it 
not  more  to  be  true  and  genuine  as  gold  tried  and 
purified  seven  times  in  the  fire  than  it  is  to  feel  that 
every  step  one  has  gained  is  the  result  of  craft,  sub- 
tilty  and  cunning }  And  if  as  it  often  happens,  the 
person  so  acting  is  not  aware  of  his  own  inward  dupli- 


'    HE  SHALL  JUDGE  THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD.    273 

city  and  want  of  truth,  is  not  this  the  sorest  judgment 
of  all  and  the  surest  earnest  of  the  judgment  that  must 
be  reserved  for  lying  lips  and  for  a  deceitful  tongue  ? 

To  take  another  instance,  and  one  that  is  yet 
more  common,  though  probably  we  have  most  of  us 
been  brought  in  contact  with  cases  like  the  last. 
What  a  lamentable  affliction  is  an  evil  temper,  and 
yet  how  completely  is  temper  (which  is,  if  anything 
is,  a  defect  of  character)  the  result  of  habit.  I  take 
temper  in  its  broader  and  more  general  sense,  not  in 
its  restricted  one,  as  applying  mainly  to  anger,  but  as 
embracing  the  entire  complexion  of  a  man's  inner 
self,  in  relation  to  persons  and  circumstances.  What 
a  curse — no  less  terrible  than  that  of  Cain, — does  he 
carry  about  within  him  who  has  a  heart  at  enmity 
with  all  the  world,  suspicious  of  His  fellow-creatures, 
censorious  as  to  their  conduct,  contemptuous  of  their 
opinions,  unmerciful  to  their  infirmities  !  What  a 
harvest  of  dragons'  teeth  does  not  such  a  one  sow  for 
himself  in  all  his  intercourse  with  the  world  !  What 
needless  and  insuperable  barriers  does  he  not  throw 
in  his  own  way  to  frustrate  his  efforts  after  good  ! 
No  observation  is  more  startlingly  true  and  strikingly 
vivid  than  that  of  Thackeray.  The  world  is  a  mirror, 
in  which  we  see  ourselves  ;  smile  and  it  smiles, — 
frown,  and  it  frowns.  And  is  it  not  a  terrible  judg- 
ment, terrible  in  the  present,  and  yet  more  terrible  to 
come,  for  a  man  to  nurse  within  himself  such  a 
temper  as  this  ? 

On  the  other  hand,  what  an  invaluable  blessing  is 

18 


274  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

the  possession  of  a  kind,  a  genial,  a  happy,  and  a 
cheerful  disposition,  which  thinketh  no  evil  because 
conscious  of  none  within  ;  which  is  buoyant  and 
equable,  meeting  the  ever-recurrent  waves  of  life  like 
our  largest  and  most  skilfully  constructed  steam 
ships,  at  the  angle  of  least  resistance  ;  which  is  beaten 
back  only  to  rise  again  more  buoyantly,  and  which 
holds  on  its  course  undaunted  and  undeviating,  well 
knowing  that  if  all  is  sound  within,  no  violence  from 
without  can  injure. 

This,  then,  be  it  understood,  is  what  I  call  temper, 
not  the  inability  to  be  ruffled  into  momentary  anger 
or  the  sudden  expression  of  transient  warmth  ;  but 
the  kind  of  disciplined  nature  which  has  the  whole 
man  well  in  hand,  and  is  equal  to  either  fortune  be- 
cause true  to  the  central  life. 

Now  though  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  word  just 
used,  nature,  has  a  good  deal  to  do  with  each  of 
these  characters,  it  is  not  all.  That  indeed,  is  our 
consolation,  that  we  can  and  do  mould  our  characters. 
Would  that  we  all  remembered  more  than  we  do, 
that  we  each  have  a  character  to  mould,  and  that 
the  judgment  will  show  to  ourselves  and  to  the  world 
what  we  have  done  to  mould  it.  This  of  course  has 
a  direct  bearing  upon  the  young,  and  upon  all  who 
are  in  any  way  connected  with  the  education  of  the 
young  ;  but  by  no  means  only  the  young,  for  just  as 
whatever  our  education  may  have  been  education 
proper  does  not  commence  till  self-education  has 
begun,  so  also  is  it  with  that  discipline  which  must 


HE  SHALL  JUDGE  THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD.    275 


result  in  character.  The  old  Latin  proverb  says, 
"  The  way  to  good  manners  is  never  too  late."  We 
have  now  each  of  us  something  to  do  with  the  forma- 
tion of  character,  for  we  have  each  of  us  something 
to  do  with  the  acquisition  of  habit,  just  as  we  have 
something  to  do  with  the  choice  of  our  clothing. 

And  in  illustration  of  this  I  cannot  but  observe 
how  almost  universally  we  see  people's  character 
strengthen  as  they  get  on  in  years,  If  in  mid-life 
we  have  known  them  to  be  hard  and  sour,  have  we 
not  seen  that  as  age  comes  on  that  character  of 
hardness  and  asperity  developes  and  increases.  The 
man  who  is  fond  of  money  in  middle  life,  will  become 
miserly  in  old  age.  The  man  who  is  vain  in  youth 
will  become  more  and  more  so  as  the  habit  increases 
with  his  years,  till  even  in  old  age  there  will  be  no 
concerns  so  interesting  to  himself,  so  usurping  on 
the  claims  of  others  as  his  own,  and  self  will  be  the 
centre  of  his  centripetal  system,  round  which  he  will 
revolve  with  undisturbed  complacency,  together  with 
such  lesser  lights  as  he  can  attract  within  the  circle  of 
his  influence.  We  must  all  have  seen  it  many  times  ; 
the  faults  of  character  that  we  have  lamented  in 
others  have  become  stronger  and  more  conspicuous, 
not  less  so  as  the  flight  of  time  sped  on.  What  a 
solemn  lesson  for  all — for  you,  brethren,  and  for  me, 
■ — for  this  is  the  law  of  human  life  ;  habit  passes  into 
character  and  is  the  parent  of  character,  and  habit  is 
but  the  aggregate  of  separate  actions.  Habits  of 
carelessness  are  the  consequence  of  indulged   indif- 


±^6  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 


ference  to  care :  habits  of  sloth,  of  indulged  ten- 
dency to  indolence  ;  habits  of  untruthfulness,  of  re- 
peated disregard  of  truth,  and  the  like. 

And  all  this,  you  observe,  is  not  called  religion,  it 
is  something  very  different  from  religion.  It  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  soul,  but  it  may  and  must 
have  very  much  to  do  with  the  present  bias  and  the 
ultimate  issue  of  that  spiritual  being  and  essence 
which  we  term  our  self.  Moment  by  moment  the 
character  of  that  self  is  formed.  It  is  in  process 
of  formation  now.  You  are  forming  it  now.  You  are 
setting  and  shifting,  perceptibly  or  impercebtibly  the 
hands  of  that  dial-plate,  to  use  again  the  metaphor 
which  I  used  last  time,  which  is  to  indicate  in  eter- 
nity the  result  of  your  life  here. 

Surely  a  most  solemn  thought.  We  must  all  be 
made  manifest,  so  the  Apostle  says,  before  the  judg- 
ment seat  of  Christy  that  every  one  may  receive  the 
thiftgs  done  in  the  body  according  to  that  Pie  hath  done 
whether  it  be  good  or  bad}  Then,  when  the  things 
are  done  here  we  have  not  done  with  them,  we  are 
to  receive  the  issue  and  long  result  of  them ;  the  seed 
must  bring  forth  its  fruit,  for  whatsoever  a  man  soweth 
that  shall  he  also  reap?  I  speak  not  so  much  now 
of  what  is  commonly  understood  by  recompense,  as 
of  that  inevitable  product  which  human  action  can- 
not but  beget,  which  is,  apart  from  any  further  result, 
its  recompense. 

And  it  is  this  slow,  sure,  certain,  and  steady  result, 

'  2  Cor.  V.  10.  2  Gal.  vi.  7. 


HE  SHALL  JUDGE  THE  QUICK  AND  THE  DEAD.    ±^^ 

that,  as  it  seems  to  me,  people  are  indisposed  to  wait 
for,  though  they  cannot  escape  it,  in  the  present  day,. 
They  would  not  otherwise  attempt  to  accomplish 
by  spasmodic  efforts  what  can  only  be  the  result  of 
time.  Character  is  the  product  of  habit  ;  character 
is  that  which  exists  but  is  hidden  now,  and  is  to  be 
revealed  hereafter.  Character  is  not  produced  in  a 
day  any  more  than  a  habit  is  formed  in  an  hour. 
A  life  which  has  been  habitually  flowing  in  one 
direction  cannot  in  a  moment  or  a  week  be  diverted 
into  another  channel,  and  be  made  to  flow  in  an 
opposite  direction.  Not  that  I  disbelieve  in  "  con- 
version,"  real  and  genuine, — far  from  it ;  but  I 
believe  that  St,  Paul's  character  did  not  differ 
materially  before  and  after  his  conversion.  Other- 
wise he  would  not  have  said  that  he  profited  above 
many  of  his  equals  in  his  own  nation,  in  the  Jews' 
religion,  being  more  exceedingly  jealous  of  the 
traditions  of  his  fathers  ^ — there  was  the  true  Pauline 
character  in  germ  and  essence.  But  when  he  became 
a  Christian  his  character  was  infused  with  another 
spirit,  and  came  under  the  law  of  another  influence^ 
and  this  was  the  influence  of  faith. 

And  that,  my  friends,  is  the  influence  that  we 
want  to  assist  in  moulding  our  character,  as  it  is  the 
influence  which  can  alone  regenerate  us.  We  want 
a  principle  of  new  life.  Who  does  not  feel  itl 
The  cry  for  exceptional  and  spasmodic  agency  which 
is  so  loud  now,^  is  a  proof  of  this.  Religious  London 
'  Gal.  i.  14.  2  The  '♦mission"  of  1874. 


278  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

feels  itself  irreligious,  and  grasps  at  a  hoped  for 
remedy.  There  is  but  one  remedy,  and  that  is  the 
application  to  the  personal  life  and  conscience  of  the 
death  and  resurrection  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  This 
and  this  alone,  taken  into  the  heart  as  a  vital  and  a 
vivifying  principle,  can  suffice  to  give  us  life,  and  life 
is  what  we  want.  The  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
operating  upon  and  through  faith  can  alone  quicken 
and  regenerate  us. 

And  as  there  is  nothing  else  which  can  do  this  and 
do  it  now,  so  there  is  nothing  else  which  can  give  us 
confidence  or  hope  in  the  future  judgment.  Only 
think  of  the  awful  revelation  in  being  exhibited  to  the 
world,  and  to  angels,  and  to  men,  as  we  really  are,  with 
all  the  blots,  voluntary  and  involuntary,  upon  our 
hidden  character  that  we  are  all  privy  to  ; — the  negli- 
gence, the  indolence,  the  selfishness,  the  vanity,  not  to 
mention  other  and  worse  evils  that  infect  and  infest  us, 
one  and  all ; — if  we  have  not  learnt  that  there  is  One 
who  has  taken  all  this  and  more  than  all  this  upon 
Himself,  and  made  it  His  own,  in  order  that  if  we 
were  willing  and  obedient  we  might  eat  the  fruit  of 
the  promised  land  into  which  He  has  brought  us,  the 
fruit,  namely,  of  His  own  perfect  and  spotless  right- 
eousness in  which,  and  in  which  alone,  we  can  stand 
just  and  accepted  before  God,  and  have  boldness  in 
the  day  of  judgment,  being  assured  that  as  He  is  so 
are  we,  if  found  in  Him,  not  only  in  this  world,  but 
also  in  that  which  is  to  come. 


XXIV. 

J  BELIE  VE  IN  THE  HOL  Y  GHOST. 

But  the  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will 
send  in  my  name,  He  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things 
to  your  remembrance,  whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you.  — John 
xiv.  26. 

WE  pass  on  now,  not  only  to  another  article, 
but  also  to  a  fresh  division  of  the  Creed: 
"I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  It  is  a  very  remark- 
able and  significant  fact  that  the  phrase,  "  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  which  is  used  by  our  Lord  in  fhis  place,  is 
peculiar  to  the  New  Testament.  Not  only  do  the 
words,  "  the  Holy  Ghost,"  not  occur  in  the  ancient 
Scriptures,  but  so  neither  does  the  phrase  which  is 
obviously  equivalent,  "  the  Holy  Spirit."  Every  one 
knows,  of  course,  that  the  Old  Testament  speaks  of 
the  Spirit  of  God,  as  for  example,  T/ie  Spirit  of  God 
moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters^  and  the  like  ; 
and  God  Himself  speaks  of  "  My  Spirit  ; "  and  the 
Psalmist  says.  Take  not  Thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me  ;  '^ 
and  Isaiah  twice  mentions  His  Holy  Spiritf  and 
the  Lord  is  called,  chiefly  by  Isaiah,  "  The  Holy 
One  of  Israeli'  and  the  like  ;  but  there  is  no  phrase 
•  Gen.  i.  2.  '  pg^  jj^  ^^  3  ija.  Ixiii.  10,  11.,  cf.  14. 


^ 


280  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

in  the  Old  Testament  answering  to  My  Holy  Spirit, 
or  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  the  Holy  Ghost  We  must 
take  careful  note  of  that  fact. 

But  now  let  us  turn  to  the  New  Testament.  We 
find  the  phrase,  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  the  Holy  Spirit, 
occurring  some  seventy  or  eighty  times  ;  and  not 
only  so,  but  it  is  used  by  our  Lord,  by  each  of  the 
Evangelists,  by  the  writer  of  the  Acts,  by  St.  Paul, 
by  St.  Peter,  by  St.  John,  by  St.  Jude,  and  by  the 
writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  What  then, 
is  the  inference }  Clearly  that  a  phrase  so  remark- 
able which  is  entirely  new,  which  is  peculiar  to  the 
New  Testament,  and  to  which  there  is  no  precipe 
parallel  in  the  ancient  Scriptures,  was  used  to  denote 
a  new  fact,  and  was  used  in  a  sense  which  was  also 
new.  At  all  events,  we  cannot  deny  that  the  phe- 
nomena relating  to  this  expression  are  altogether 
new. 

And  then  further,  along  with  these  new  pheno- 
mena we  must  notice  the  fact  that  the  Gospel 
professed  to  come  as  an  influence  which  was  en- 
tirely new,  which  claimed  to  give  men  new  life, 
which  demanded  of  them  a  new  birth,  which  was 
itself  the  very  power  of  regeneration. 

Also  we  must  remember  that  the  books  known 
as  the  New  Testament  stand  out  from  the  rest  of 
literature  as  an  entirely  new  creation,  as  not  only  an 
attempt  to  produce  something  new,  but  also  as 
literary  productions  distinct  and  separate  from  all 
others,  not  only  in  degree,  but  in  kind.     Or  if  it  were 


THE  HOL  V  GHOST.  281 

to  be  claimed  for  the  writings  of  the  Christian  fathers, 
for  example,  that  they  are  separated  from  the  books 
of  the  New  Testament,  not  in  kind,  but  only  in 
degree,  still  this  fact  remains,  that  the  impulse  which 
gave  these  writings  their  existence  was  derived  from 
the  New  Testament,  which  was  itself  an  original 
production. 

What  then,  again,  is  the  inference  ?  Clearly  that 
a  power  which  professed  to  be  new,  and  which, 
undeniably,  produced  results  so  novel  and  so  new, 
was  itself  as  new  as  the  results  which  it  produced. 
In  other  words,  that  just  as  the  language  of  the 
New  Testament,  in  the  particular  mentioned,  is 
evidence  of  a  new  spiritual  fact,  is  clearly  the  first 
attempt  to  express  a  new  spiritual  conception,  so 
the  moral  and  spiritual  facts  which  originated  that 
expression  were  also  new.  The  Holy  Ghost  had 
made  Himself  known  to  the  writers  of  the  New 
Testament  in  a  way  He  had  not  made  Himself 
known  to  the  writers  of  the  Old,  and  the  revelation 
was  witnessed  to,  and  the  fact  confirmed  by,  the 
influence  manifested  in  the  language  of  the  writers. 
This,  as  it  seems  to  me,  is  a  perfectly  fair  and 
legitimate  conclusion,  and  one  which  no  sophistry 
or  ingenuity  can  set  aside.  Our  Lord  distinctly 
promised  to  send  the  Holy  Ghost,  His  disciples 
distinctly  claimed  to  bestow  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  subsequent  history  of  their  actions,  and 
the  results  of  their  teaching,  and  the  phenomena  of 
their  language,  show  that  the  Holy  Ghost  was  given 


282  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

and  received  as  a  new  influence.  And  consequently 
this  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  the  greatest  proof 
and  confirmation  of  the  mission  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
of  the  promise  He  made  to  His  disciples. 

Thus  the  mere  linguistic  phenomena  of  the  New 
Testament  are,  so  far,  collateral  and  corroborative 
proof  of  its  character  and  its  origin.  The  features 
are  new,  it  speaks  of  something  new,  and  it  is  itself 
an  evidence  of  a  power  now  for  the  first  time  in 
similar  active  operation. 

I  need  only  remind  you  of  one  remarkable  pas- 
sage in  St.  John  to  establish  the  correctness  of  what 
I  say.  When  Jesus  said.  He  that  believeth  on  Me^  as 
the  Scripture  hath  said^  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow 
rivers  of  living  water,  the  Apostle  adds,  But  this 
spake  He  of  the  Spirit^  which  they  that  believe  on  Him 
should  receive;  for  the  Holy  Ghost  was  not  yet  [given] 
because  that  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified}  The  word 
"  given  "  is  in  italics.  His  words  are,  The  Holy  Ghost 
was  not  yet,  that  is,  was  not  yet  as  a  personal  posses- 
sion of  believers. 

It  is,  then,  of  this  Holy  Ghost  that  we  are  now 
to  speak.  The  Holy  Ghost  in  His  distinct  and 
individual  existence  is  the  special  revelation  of  the 
New  Testament,  Very  instructive  it  would  be  to 
run  through  all  the  passages  in  which  mention  is 
made  of  Him  and  His  work,  with  a  view  to  ascer- 
taining exactly  that  which  is  told  us  of  Him.  But 
we  cannot  do  this  now.     Any  one  who  will  take  a 

'  John  vii.  38,  39. 


THE  HOLY  GHOST.  283 


L 


concordance,  which,  be  it  observed  in  passing,  is  a 
most  valuable  and  instructive  teacher,  may  do  it 
for  himself.  All  that  is  needful  to  observe  now,  is 
that  the  New  Testament  view  of  the  Person  and 
office  of  the  Holy  Ghost  differs  materially,  because 
practically,  from  the  theological  view.  The  con- 
7  fusion  which  we  get  into  by  mental  endeavours  to 
^  Conceive  of  one  who  is  a  separate,  and  yet  not  a 
separated  person;  of  one  who  is  three,  and  yet  not 
three  ;  who  is  one,  and  yet  not  one,  and  the  like, 
is  so  great,  at  least, — I  speak  now  from  my  own 
experience — as  to  be  fatal  to  anything  of  the  nature 
of  simple  earnest  faith  and  fervent  worship.  Be- 
lieve me,  it  is  no  part  of  Christian  faith  or  practice 
to  be  able  to  have  in  one's  mind  a  clear  and  lucid 
notion  of  the  technical  difference  between  the  three 
Persons  of  the  ever  blessed  Trinity,  and  of  the 
distinct  mode  in  which  each  works. 

Let  me  quote  here  some  words  of  an  American 
writer,  which  seem  to  me  most  appropriate  and  true. 
"The  Persons  of  the  Godhead  are  not  to  be  sepa- 
ted  one  from  another  as  to  presence  and  place ;  as 
if  one  were  with  us  here  upon  earth,  and  the  other 
away  from  us  up  in  heaven.  Where  the  Son  is, 
there  the  Father  is  in  the  Son  ;  and  where  the  Son 
is,  and  is  revealed  in  any  soul,  there  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  as  the'revealer  of  the  Son.  So  it  comes  to  pass, 
that  he  who  has  the  Son  has  the  Father  and  the 
Spirit  also.  And  he  who  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  the  temple  of  the  Triune  God  ;  and  he  who 


284  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

is  in  abiding  union  with  Jesus,  is  in  abiding  union 
with  God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost."  ^  Now 
this  expresses,  in  a  very  clear  and  practical  manner, 
what  we  may  term  the  net  result  of  that  great 
mystery  which,  as  many  of  us  have  been  accustomed 
to  regard  it  is,  I  am  persuaded,  a  source  of  stumbling 
and  offence  to  many. 

My  brethren,  there  are  not  three  Gods,  neither  is 
God  the  Holy  Ghost  something  which  God  is  not, 
or  which  is  not  God.  Neither  as  when  we  speak  of 
the  Spirit  of  God,  do  we  speak  of  a  distinct  or 
separate  part  of  God,  which  is  more  Divine,  or  less 
Divine  than  others,  but  just  as  the  highest  mathema- 
tical science  may  be  called  a  transcript  of  the  mind 
of  God,  because  it  expresses  those  eternal  necessary 
laws  by  which  the  Divine  mind  governs  the  material 
universe,  and  guides  the  stars  in  their  courses,  but  is 
not  otherwise  holy  than  as  all  that  He  doeth  is  holy 
and  as  the  mental  operations  of  the  Divine  mind 
must  be  holy  ;  so  also  is  the  Spirit  of  God  which 
is  apparent  in  the  writings  of  Paul  and  John,  the 
highest  operation  and  evidence  of  that  fountain  of 
holiness  which  is  in  God,  and  which  is  the  special 
and  the  choicest  characteristic  of  the  nature  of  God. 
It  is  self-evident  that  the  combination  of  a  Newton, 
a  Kepler,  a  Leibnitz,  a  La  Place,  a  Pascal,  and  a 
hundred  other  chiefest  mathematicians  would  not 
make  one  Isaiah  ;  and  that,  though  when  God  gave 
those  great  lights  to  mankind,  He  gave  transcendant 

*  Boardman,  The  Higher  Life, 


THE  HOLY  GHOST.  285 


geniuses  to  whom  He  discovered  the  secret  workings 
of  His  own  mind,  yet  in  giving  them  all,  He  did 
not  so  pour  out  the  riches  of  His  grace,  or  make  bare 
His  holy  arm  as  when  He  gave  to  His  chosen  people 
the  prophet  Isaiah,  and  yet  each  was  a  gift  of  God, 
and  each  in  His  way  was  a  revealer  of  God  ;  but  it 
was  given  to  Isaiah  to  reveal  that  which  no  human 
intellect  could  discover,  and  to  speak  under  the  in- 
fluence of  a  Being  whose  very  existence,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  but  imperfectly  revealed  to  him,  but  who 
was  to  be  more  fully  revealed  hereafter. 

The  Holy  Ghost,  then,  is  a  different  and  special 
manifestation  of  the  same  God,  and  moreover  He  is 
that  manifestation  of  God  in  which  we  are  specially 
concerned  as  sinful  creatures.  As  by  the  writer  I 
have  just  quoted  it  has  been  well  said,  "  The  Father 
is  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  invisible.  The  Son 
is  all  the  fulness  of  the- Godhead  manifest.  The  Spirit 
is  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  making  manifest." 
And  this  is  the  office  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  make 
manifest.  When  Christ  promised  to  send  the  Holy 
Ghost,  He  promised  to  send  a  Spirit  which  should 
make  manifest.  And  as  this  Spirit  did  not  come 
historically  till  after  Christ  had  gone,  so,  when  He 
came,  he  did  most  clearly  and  conclusively  fulfil 
what  Christ  had  promised,  for  He  made  manifest  to 
the  disciples  the  meaning  and  intention  of  all  that 
Christ  had  said  and  done.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
which  there  is  no  denying.  He  did  teach  them  all 
things,  and  bring  all  things  to  their  remembrance 


286  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

whatsoever  He  had  said  unto  them.  And  if  we 
will  not  admit  this  reasoning,  then  we  must  affirm 
that,  the  facts  being  what  they  are,  the  writers  re- 
sorted to  the  clumsy  shift  of  ascribing  these  promises 
to  Christ  in  order  to  make  more  wonderful  that 
which  was  already  so  wonderful  that  it  could  not  be 
explained  without  them. 

And,  brethren,  of  all  the  names  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  there  is  no  name  so  sweet  as  this  of  the 
Comforter.  Even  though  it  may  not  be  the  most 
exact  equivalent  of  the  Saviour's  own  word 
"  Paraclete,"  yet  being  sanctioned  by  the  usage  of 
five  hundred  years,  for  it  is  used  by  Wiclifif, 
and  being  supported  by  the  Troster  of  Luther's 
Bible,  we  may  well  cling  to  it.  For  when  the 
Holy  Spirit  makes  manifest  to  any  one  heart  the 
purposes  and  the  will  of  God  towards  him,  then  it  is 
only  to  his  comfort  and  to  comfort  him.  Oh  that 
people  knew  the  comfort  of  true  religion.  That  it 
was  not  something  to  make  one  timid  and  gloomy, 
fearful  at  every  moment  of  doing  something  which 
would  be  visited  upon  us  with  unendurable  severity, 
but  a  present  possession  of  holy  calm  filling  the  soul 
with  perfect  peace.  The  Gospel  is  too  often  pro- 
claimed as  a  threatened  scourge,  menacing  chastise- 
ment for  the  smallest  offences,  and  exacting  payment 
to  the  uttermost  farthing.  For  my  part,  I  not  only 
can  see  no  Gospel  in  this,  but  I  believe  it  is  utterly 
opposed  to  that  spirit  of  freedom  and  release  which 
the  Gospel  was  to  bring  in,  and  is  wholly  ignorant  of 


THE  HOLY  GHOST,  287 

that  blessing  of  pardon,  free  and  full  and  final,  which 
was  the  special  privilege  of  the  Gospel.  What 
evidence  is  there  in  a  religion  like  this,  the  religion 
of  servile  fear,  of  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
the  Comforter  ?  None  at  all.  The  advocates  of  it 
must  confess  with  the  disciples  at  Ephesus,  We 
have  not  so  mtich  as  heard  whether  tJtere  he  any 
Holy  Ghost}  The  article  of  the  Creed,  "  I  believe  in 
the  Holy  Ghost "  is  indeed  repeated  as  a  charm  or 
talisman,  too  precious  to  forego,  but  the  meaning  of 
belief  in  the  Holy  Ghost  as  in  a  person  whose  office 
it  is  to  comfort,  and  in  whom  we  can  repose  our  trust 
is  unknown.  The  Holy  Ghost  is  an  idol  of  the 
mind,  not  the  precious  experience  and  abiding  pos- 
session of  the  heart. 

"Oh,"  it  will  be  said,  "but  you  degrade  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God  into  a  mere  subjective  feeling."  No,  I 
reply,  I  do  not.  I  do  not  identify  any  feeling  of  mine 
with  the  substantive  existence  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
but  the  substantive  existence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
nothing  to  me  unless  He  works  in  me,  and  produces 
an  effect  in  me,  and  as  far  as  His  work  in  me  is 
concerned,  I  cannot  separate  His  work  in  me  from 
the  effect  which  that  work  produces.  The  work 
which  it  was  said  He  should  produce,  was  the  work 
of  comfort.  He  should  strengthen  and  encourage 
and  console  ;  surely,  at  all  times,  a  most  Divine  work, 
and  one  altogether  worthy  of  Him  ;  and  if  I  find 
that  work  produced  in  me,  as  Christ  said  it  should 
*  Acts  xix.  2. 


288  THE  CHRISTIAN-  CREED. 

be  produced,  shall  I  turn  round  and  deny  it  as  the 
work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  say  it  is  only  a  sub' 
jective  feeling  of  my  own,  which  must  be  jealously 
watched  and  carefully  repressed.  Then  what  be- 
comes of  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  so  far  as 
that  work  is  connected  with  comfort  ? 

And  now  I  beg  you  to  observe,  that  if  we  are 
disciples  of  Christ,  it  is  exactly  this  work  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  to  perform.  The  Lord  says  nothing 
here  about  making  us  holy.  He  speaks  about  giving 
us  comfort.  If  we  follow  the  guidance  of  His  own 
words  they  will  no  doubt  lead  us  right.  The  fact  is 
when  the  Holy  Ghost  doth  comfort  then  He  maketh 
holy.  He  does  not  first  make  holy,  and  then  com- 
fort afterwards,  because  if  so,  who  would  be  com- 
forted  .-*  Are  you  so  holy  as  to  be  able  to  take 
comfort  because  you  are  holy }  I  trow  not.  All 
such  comfort,  all  such  rejoicing  is  vain.  But  if  you 
suffer  the  Holy  Ghost  to  comfort  you,  if  you  will 
believe  in  His  agency  when  He  offers  to  comfort 
you,  then  you  may  trust  in  Him  to  make  you  holy. 
Depend  upon  it  He  will  not  come  with  comfort 
where  there  is  a  lurking  spirit  of  unholiness,  just  as 
He  will  not  come  with  comfort  where  there  is  a 
lurking  spirit  of  unbelief,  whether  in  the  truth  of 
Christ's  Gospel  or  in  the  reality  of  His  own  agency  ; 
but  if  He  comes  with  comfort.  He  will  bring  also 
the  gift  of  personal  holiness.  He  will  come  with  the 
grace  of  sanctification. 

It    seems  to  me  we  have  had  rather   too   much 


THE  HOL  Y  GHOST,  289 

of  the  religion  of  the  schoolmaster,  Christianity 
was  to  be  a  kind  of  moral  or  spiritual  policeman, 
perpetually  parading  up  and  down  before  our 
windows,  and  reminding  of  this  which  we  ought  to 
do,  and  of  the  other  which  we  should  not,  and  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  religion  became  a  thing  of  doing 
and  not  doing.  But  surely  the  well-informed  and 
responsible  manhood  of  Christian  life  is  not  satisfied 
with  this  as  any  adequate  expression  of  the  mind  of 
Christ  in  the  Gospel.  The  Gospel  is  described  by 
Him  who  first  preached  it  as  a  healing  of  the 
broken-hearted,  a  deliverance  to  the  captives,  a  re- 
covering of  sight  to  the  blind,  a  setting  at  liberty  them 
that  are  bound.  I  find,  then,  that  spiritual  emanci- 
pation is  the  grand  characteristic  of  the  Gospel,  not 
legal  restraint.  I  find  that  where  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  is,  the  Holy  Spirit,  there  is  liberty.  I  find,  then, 
that  the  Gospel,  if  it  is  to  act  with  any  power  is  to 
set  us  free  ;  it  is  to  give  us  peace,  to  make  us  clean 
within,  to  give  us  thankfulness  in  prosperity  and 
cheerfulness  in  adversity — and  this  is  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

"  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,"  then,  means  very 
much  more  than  "  I  believe  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
the  third  person  in  the  ever-blessed  Trinity ;  that 
He  is  separate  from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  and 
yet  one  with  both,  that  He  proceedeth  not  from  one 
only  but  from  both,"  and  very  much  of  the  same  kind, 
which  is  all  very  well  if  this  sacred  person  were  to 
have  only  a  name  and  no  local  habitation  in  our  own 

19 


290  •  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

hearts  ;  but  if,  on  the  other  hand,  He  is  only  to  be 
known  by  His  agency,  and  only  to  be  discovered  by 
His  fruits,  then  I  say  that  we  cannot  separate  His 
influence  from  Himself,  but  must  seek  to  know  Him 
through  His  hallowed  influence  on  the  heart. 

This  week  is  to  be  kept  very  generally  in  London 
as  a  week  of  special  intercession  for  more  abundant 
outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  is  to  be  accom- 
panied with  special  efforts  to  bring  the  indifferent 
and  the  ungodly  within  the  range  of  His  blessed 
operation.  I  am  sure  we  shall  all  join  in  the  most 
devout  and  fervent  aspirations  that  these  blessed 
objects  may  be  attained,  and  shall  earnesly  pray  that 
every  effort  which  is  made  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  and 
in  dependence  on  the  grace  of  God,  may  be  blessed 
abundantly  with  success.  It  is  a  great  thing  when 
men  so  believe  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
in  the  power  of  prayer,  as  to  combine  together  in 
such  a  way  as  this,  to  ask  for  a  larger  outpouring  of 
His  grace.  It  is  the  one  petition  to  which  we  know 
Avith  absolute  certainty  that  there  is  no  limiting  con- 
dition. IJ  y£  then,  being  evil,-  know  how  to  give  good 
gifts  unto  your  children,  how  much  7nore  shall  your 
heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask 
Him}  Though  there  may  be  many  characteristics  in 
this  movement,  as  it  will  be  conducted,  which  may  seem 
to  us  to  be  not  according  to  knowledge,  yet  what  are 
these  but  as  the  babbling  and  broken  cries  of  children 
calling  on   their  Father   who   knoweth  what  things 

'  Luke  xi.  13. 


THE  HOLY  GHOST.  291 

they  have  need  of  before  they  ask  Him,  even  if  their 
language  is  imperfect  and  stammering.  And  be  it 
ours,  brethren,  to  pray  also,  that  the  cry  may  be 
heard  even  more  than  we  or  they  can  ask  or  think; 
that  it  may  be  answered,  not  according  to  our  weak 
intention  or  our  poor  endeavours,  but  according  to 
the  grace  and  wisdom  of  Him  who  worketh  all 
things  after  the  counsel  of  His  own  will  ;  who  giveth 
to  all  men  liberally  and  upbraideth  not,  and  is 
able  abundantly  to  supply  all  our  need  out  of  His 
fulness  in  Christ  Jesus. 


XXV. 
THE  HOLY  GHOST. 

Likewise  the  Spirit  also  helpeth  our  infirmities  :  for  we  know  not  what 
we  should  pray  for  as  we  ought :  but  the  Spirit  itself  maketh  intercession 
for  us  with  groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered.  And  He  that  searcheth 
the  hearts  knoweth  what  is  the  mind  of  the  Spirit,  because  He  maketh 
intercession  for  the  saints  according  to  the  will  of  God. — Rom.  viii.  26. 

'T^O-DAY  we  pass  on  to  the  consideration  of 
^  some  of  the  other  functions  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  His  relation  to  us,  reserving  for  the  following 
lecture  the  consideration  of  our  duty  in  relation 
to  Him.  The  aspect  in  which  we  were  led  to  re- 
gard the  Holy  Spirit  on  Sunday  last  was  that  of  a 
Comforter.  There  are  two  aspects  to  the  inherent 
significance  of  this  word  comfort.  One  is  that 
which  is  now  probably  the  more  common  one  of 
consolation,  and  it  was  this  which  chiefly  occupied 
us  before  ;  the  other  is  that  of  strengthening,  the 
giving  of  fortitude  or  strength,  which  will  occupy  us 
to-day.  The  Apostle  is~speaking  of  the  trials  of 
the  present  state  from  which  even  the  Christian  is 
not  exempt,  and  to  which  he  is  even  more  exposed 
than  other  men.  He  says,  That  the  whole  creation 
groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain  together  with  ns  even 


294  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

until  now,  that  the  burden  of  what  has  the  appear- 
ance of  a  curse  is  laid  upon  external  nature  as  well 
upon  the  beings  who  are  made  in  the  image  of 
God  ;  but  that  for  us  who  believe  there  is  not  only  a 
present  salvation  in  Christ,  but  also  a  future  salvation 
through  hope.  And  in  addition  to  this  anticipated 
redemption  the  Spirit  of  God  also  helpeth  our  infir- 
mities, that  is,  not  helpeth  us  to  bear  our  infirmities 
(which  it  is  the  object  of  earnest  resolution  and  of 
Christian  discipline  to  lessen),  but  helpeth  us  to 
bear  the  present  burden  of  deferred  adoption  or 
redemption  of  the  body,  by  assisting  us  in  rela- 
tion to  that  burden,  and  making  us  strong  to  bear 
it. 

You  will  at  once  see,  then,  that  here  there  enters 
in  the  other  office  of  the  Comforter,  not  that  of 
consoling,  but  that  of  giving  strength.  The  Spirit 
itself  helpeth  our  weakness  to  bear  the  burden  laid 
upon  us,  by  giving  us  Christian  fortitude,  and 
patience,  and  enduring  courage.  To  St.  Paul  and 
to  the  Romans  we  cannot  for  a  moment  doubt  that 
this  was  so,  they  had  been  made  acquainted  with 
the  whereabouts  of  supernatural  strength,  with  a 
fountain  of  Divine  endurance,  to  which  they  had 
continual  access  through  prayer  and  the  Spirit's 
intercession.  But  how  is  it  with  ourselves.?  We 
have  lately  had  the  office  of  the  Holy  Spirit  put 
put  before  us  in  a  very  marked  and  sensational, 
and  even  violent  manner.  His  operation  has  been 
invoked   in  the  whirlwind  and  the   earthquake  and^ 


THE  HOLY  GHOST.  295 


the  tempest,  rather  than  in  the  still  small  voice  in 
which  the  prophet  found  Him.  God  forbid  that  we 
should  limit  the  agency  of  that  Spirit  whose  opera- 
tion has  been  compared  to  the  wind  which  bloweth 
where  it  listeth,  and  which  can  shatter  the  rocks 
and  overturn  the  mountains  when  He  pleaseth.  God 
forbid  that  we  should  in  any  way  discredit  or  dis- 
courage any  attempts  that  are,  or  have  been,  made 
to  overturn  the  mountains  of  difficulty  and  obstacle 
that  interpose  themselves  but  too  fatally  to  the  work 
of  the  Spirit  in  this  place,  and  to  break  the  rocky 
hearts  of  prejudice,  indifference,  and  unbelief  that 
exalt  themselves  on  every  side  ;  but  forasmuch  as 
we  have  not  all  taken  part  in  these  special  attempts, 
slnd  as  we  would  earnestly  hope  there  are  some  here 
who  do  not  need  themselves  to  be  the  immediate  ob- 
jects of  them,  it  is  certainly  allowable,  and  we  would 
hope  it  may  be  profitable,  to  contemplate  the  Divine 
agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  a  somewhat  different 
aspect.  And  bear  with  us,  brethren,  if,  as  in  the 
presence  of  God,  and  by  way  of  illustration,  we 
speak  for  a  moment  of  ourselves  and  of  our  own 
work.  For  almost  sixteen  years  we  have  been 
preaching  the  Word  of  God  in  this  place.  We  have 
devoted  to  that  work  the  best  of  our  power,  our 
energy,  and  our  time.  We  have  earnestly  desired 
and  implored  the  Divine  blessing  on  our  labours. 
What  has  been  the  result  as  far  as  we  can  humanly 
judge  ^  We  do  not  know  that  one  single  soul  has 
been   won   for    God.     The   arrows,    however    sharp 


296  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

and  winged  they  may  have  been,  have  been  arrows 
shot  in  the  dark.  No  great  visible  results  have  been 
produced.  Empty  seats  have  not  been  filled,  com- 
municants have  not  been  increased,  multitudes  have 
not  been  added  to  our  flock,  still  less  added  to  the 
Lord.  Such  facts  as  these  call  for  the  most  serious 
consideration  and  self-searching  scrutiny.  What  has 
been  the  cause  of  a  failure  so  apparent  and  so  trying, 
if  not  so  conspicuous  }  Has  the  message  been  at 
fault  1  Has  Christ  not  been  preached  t  Have  the 
foundations  of  self  not  been  shaken  }  Has  the  Holy 
Spirit  not  been  invoked,  or  has  the  need  of  His 
personal  agency  been  disparaged  or  overlooked  t 
Has  the  preacher's  matter  been  jejune,  or  his  manner 
repellent }  It  is  yours  and  not  mine,  brethren, 
to  answer  questions  such  as  these.  Is  there  any 
other  fault  near  at  home  }  Have  we  trusted  to  do 
by  might  and  by  power  what  can  alone  be  done  by 
the  Spirit  of  the  living  God  }  I  think  not.  Then 
where,  brethren,  has  been  the  fault  t  God  knows 
that  we  have  tried  to  cut  deep  into  the  hearts  and 
consciences  of  men.  God  knows  that  we  have  tried 
to  get  far  beneath  the  surface,  that  we  have  tried  to 
bring  Christ  into  contact  with  the  individual  heart. 
If  it  has  been  all  in  vain,  that,  brethren,  must  rest 
with  those  who  have  heard  us  and  with  God.  If 
there  have  not  been,  as  some  would  say,  many  seals 
to  our  ministry,  we  can  but  take  refuge  in  the  con- 
fession of  a  greater  than  ourselves,  and  say,  /  have 
laboured  in  vain,  I  have  spejit  my  strength  for  7toiight, 


THE  HOLY  GHOST.  297 

and  in  vain  ;  yet  snrely  my  judgment  is  with  the  Lord, 
a?id  my  work  with  my  God} 

And  now  the  question  arises,  Is  the  work  that  is 
so  needful  to  be  done  to  be  accompHshed  by  other 
agency  ?  Is  the  object  confessedly  to  be  to  produce, 
by  whatever  means  can  be  brought  to  bear,  a  great 
impression  ?  Are  additional  inducements  and  attrac- 
tions, whatever  such  can  be  devised,  to  be  laid  under 
requisition  ?  Is  the  church  to  be  filled  with  eager 
and  expectant  crowds  by  every  conceivable  expedient 
(and  I  can  only  say  that  I  wish  it  could  be  filled,  not 
for  one  day  or  one  week,  but  for  all  days  and  every 
week)  or  is  there  anything  else  to  seek  after  and  to 
look  for  ?  I  confess  that  if  there  is  not,  then  the 
case  is  utterly  hopeless  ;  but  this  has  ever  been  our 
hope.  We  have  always  been  taught  to  believe,  and 
we  have  tried  to  act  on  the  belief,  that  visible  results 
are  fictitious  and  delusive  ;  that  it  was  wisest  neither 
to  look  for  nor  to  trust  them  ; — that  the  duty  of 
the  Christian,  and  more  especially  of  the  Christian 
minister,  was  to  be  regardless  of  results,  to  go  on  in 
independence  of,  and  with  indifference  to  them, 
believing  assuredly  that  it  was  impossible  to  cal- 
culate or  to  gauge  the  effects  and  issues  of  the  word 
preached  ; — that  being  of  the  number  of  those  who 
disdain  to  make  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  the  / 
engine  for  attaching  to  themselves  friends  and  fol-  I 
lowers,  the  true  and  the  only  course  was  to  steer  J 
right  onward,  to  bate  no  jot  of  heart  or  hope,  but  to      / 

'  Isa.  xlix.  4. 


THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 


leave  all  results  and  all  consequences,  all  impressions, 
fruits,  and  seals  to  the  day  of  judgment  and  to  God. 
Whether  or  not  this  is  right,  brethren,  time  alone 
will  show,  but  this  I  hold  to  be  the  chiefest  practical 
duty,  not  only  of  the  Christian  preacher,  but  also  of 
the  every  day  Christian. 

The  tide,  however,  of  popular  opinion  is  plainly 
setting  in  the  exactly  opposite  direction.  The  results 
and  impressions  which  confessedly  are  not  produced, 
if  they  are  producible,  by  the  ordinary  means,  must 
be  forthwith  and  at  once  produced  by  all  and  by 
any  means.  Services  must  be  multiplied,  their  cha- 
racter revolutionised,  another  method  adopted,  other 
machinery  set  in  motion.  Crowds  must  be  gathered 
together,  and  a  great  visible,  or  at  least  apparent, 
effect  produced. 

Well,  by  all  means  let  it  be  done  ;  let  the  churches 
be  filled,  let  the  streets  be  emptied.  Let  multitudes 
who  have  never  thought  on  God  and  futurity  if  such 
there  be,  assemble  themselves  and  be  turned  unto 
the  Lord  ;  but  I  look  at  this  matter  in  a  practical 
light,  and  decline  to  look  at  it  in  any  other.  What- 
ever souls  are  thus  brought  to  God, — for  what  are 
they  thus  brought  t  That  they  may  lead  Christian 
lives.  Very  well,  and  for  what  purpose  are  you  and 
I  here  now }  That  we  may  learn  to  do  the  same. 
Precisely  so,  and  for  no  other.  If  there  is  any  one 
who  comes  here  for  any  other  I  cannot  help  that. 
If,  coming  time  after  time  to  the  wells  of  salvation, 
you  have  gone  away  without  drinking  of  them,  or 


THE  HOLY  GHOST.  299 

without  slaking  your  thirst  I  cannot  help  that.  If, 
coming  time  after  time  into  the  very  presence  of  the 
Crucified,  you  have  not  come  into  contact  with  Him, 
have  not  touched  Him,  I  cannot  help  that.  If  by 
a  different  style  of  service,  or  a  different  style  of 
preaching,  or  by  anything  else  a  different  effect  can 
be  produced,  by  all  means  let  it  be  produced.  Only 
beware  of  this,  that  you  do  not  mistake  the  spurious 
for  the  genuine.  It  is  possible  to  go  to  church  three 
or  four  times  a  day,  it  is  possible  to  take  the  sacra- 
ment perpetually,  and  yet  not  to  have  that  spiritual 
life  within  the  heart  which  can  alone  make  the 
presence  in  church  of  any  value,  or  give  any  real 
virtue  to  the  act  of  communion.  It  is  possible  to 
work  the  feelings  and  the  imagination  up  to  a  great 
degree  of  tension,  to  superinduce  a  fervour  of  excite- 
ment, and  yet  not  have  that  real  thing  within  which 
the  Gospel  calls  faith,  which  can  alone  save  the  soul. 
And  again,  although  it  may  be  highly  desirable 
that  the  vague  generalities  of  any  sermon  may  be 
reduced  to  the  specialities  of  what  is  technically 
called  the  after-meeting,  (what  an  extraordinary 
development  of  language,  by  the  way,  unheard  of 
within  the  last  few  years  or  months),  although  it 
may  be  even  desirable  that  there  should  in  certain 
cases  be  direct  spiritual  converse  between  the 
preacher  and  his  flock,  and  although  many  of  our 
sermons  may  fall  fruitless  and  ineffective,  because 
the  questions  they  may  have  suggested  have  not 
been  asked,  and  therefore  not  been  answered — ^yet 


300  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

I  should  imagine  that  the  only  legitimate  purpose 
and  object  of  such  intercourse,  is  to  make  all  who 
seek  for  it  independent  of  it.  For  I  believe  it  to  be 
a  universal  law  of  healthy,  vigorous  spiritual  life,  to 
be  self-supporting,  and  self-dependent,  as  our  Lord 
indicated,  when  He  said,  He  that  believeth  on  Me, 
as  the  Scripttire  hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall 
flow  rivers  of  living  water}  It  is  here,  brethren,  and 
it  is  well  that  you  should  know  it,  that  there  lies  the 
radical  vice  of  that  practice  of  confession,  which  is 
openly,  to  the  shame  of  Christianity  in  this  nine- 
teenth century,  and  in  this  reformed  church,  being 
introduced  among  us,  but  too  commonly  in  the 
present  day. 

My  brethren,  we  are  not  alarmists,  but  we  say 
boldly,  and  with  as  much  emphasis  and  weight  as 
we  can  command,  Men  and  women,  fathers  and 
mothers,  husbands  and  wives  of  England,  beware  of 
the  confessional !  We  say  so,  not  to  join  in  an 
ignorant  popular  cry  against  it,  which  is  sometimes 
raised,  but  because  the  very  principle  it  implies 
strikes  at  the  root  of  that  self- sustained  and 
righteous  independence  and  inalienable  liberty  of 
a  pure  and  single-eyed  conscience  which  is  the 
necessary  product  of  a  true  Christianity.  We  were 
informed  by  the  leading  organ  of  popular  opinion 
yesterday,  that  the  requisite  machinery  for  confession 
is  now  in  public  operation,  in  a  notorious  church 
in    London,    as    it  is    in  Roman    churches  abroad. 

'  John  vii.  38. 


THE  HOLY  GHOST.  301 

Surely  the  time  has  come  to  ask,  Fellow-countrymen, 
and  fellow-citizens,  will  you  stand  this  ?  Is  it  not 
the  duty  of  every  Christian  minister  to  lift  up  his 
voice  against  it  ?  Is  it  not  the  duty  of  every 
Christian  layman  to  echo  and  gbiQ  effect  and  influ- 
ence to  that  voice  wherever  and  in  whatever  way 
he  can  ?^  Public  opinion,  when  once  created  and 
aroused,  is  a  power  that  is  irresistible. 

But  you  will  say  to  me,  How  have  you  fulfilled 
your  promise,  and  how  does  all  this  bear  upon  the 
text?  It  bears  upon  it  in  this  way,  that  whatever 
may  be  the  throes  and  travail  pangs,  by  which  a  soul 
is  cast  naked  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  yet  the  living 
result  of  the  Spirit's  work  in  after  life  must  be 
sought  in  calmness,  quietness,  and  confidence,  and 
not  in  the  constant  repetition  of  such  stringent  and 
stimulating  methods  of  operation  as  have  been 
referred  to.  To  prepare  to  die  may  be  the  work  of 
an  hour,  or  of  a  moment ;  but  to  prepare  to  live  must 
be  the  work  of  a  lifetime.  If  you  have  not  been 
really  converted  to  God,  that  is  your  affair  and  no 
one's  but  yours.  If  you  have,  then  your  highest  and 
unceasing  effort  must  be  to  live  as  those  who  have 
been  turned  from  darkness  unto  light,  and  from  the 
power  of  Satan  unto  God. 

And  this  I  take  it,  you  will  not  find  easy.  The 
atmosphere  of  everyday  life  is  more  chilling   than 

^  Recent  notorious  events  connected  with  The  Priest  in  Absolution 
have  furnished  an  instructive  commentary  on  the  observations  in  the 
text,  which  were  written  some  years  ago,  and  have  shown  them  to  be 
neither  exaggerated  nor  uncalled  ior.—Se^t.  1877. 


302  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED, 

that  of  the  hour  of  prayer,  and  the  hour  of  com- 
munion with  Christ.  It  is  easy  to  make  one  grand 
effort  and  subside ;  it  is  not  easy  to  make  a  lifelong 
effort  of  daily  and  hourly  bearing  of  the  cross,  of 
daily  and  hourly  government  of  the  thoughts,  the 
temper,  and  the  tongue.  Oh,  how  much  easier  it  is 
to  go  to  Church,  and  even  (hard  as  some  of  you  no 
doubt  find  it)  to  listen  to  a  sermon,  than  it  is  to  bear 
up  with  manful  Christian  fortitude  against  the  in- 
evitable rebukes  of  life ;  to  go  on  in  the  path  of  duty, 
when  the  path  of  duty  does  not  go  on  with  you;  to 
be  true,  patient,  forbearing,  hopeful,  cheerful  and 
resigned,  to  curb  the  biting  sarcasm,  or  restrain  the 
dubious  jest ;  to  live  habitually  in  the  presence  of  God, 
and  in  the  continual  communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
And  yet,  will  anyone  tell  me,  that  less  than  this  is 
the  Christian  life,  and  that  anything  which  does  not 
issue  in  this,  as  a  lifelong  habit,  is  worthy  to  be 
called  conversion. 

The  function  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  then,  is  to  make 
us  strong  to  bear  the  ills  of  life,  the  disappointments, 
frettings,  worries,  vexations,  annoyances  of  daily  and 
hourly  existence.  He  or  she  who  knows  little  of  the 
ecstatic  rapture  of  devotion,  or  of  the  luxury  of  a 
sustained  effort  of  prayer,  or  of  the  sweetness  of 
drinking  in  a  fervent  and  impassioned  discourse, 
may  yet  know  something  of  the  calmer  and  no 
less  blessed  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  is  the 
author  of  peace,  and  not  of  confusion,  who  is  the 
lover  of  order,  and  not  of  disorder.      He  or  she  who 


THE  HOLY  GHOST.  303 

would  be  sorely  puzzled  to  take  part  in  a  so-called 
'  chain  of  prepetual  intercession/  or  to  emulate  those 
who  made  long  prayers  at  the  corners  of  the  streets, 
may  yet  derive  strength  and  encouragement  from 
the  thought  that  there  is  a  Spirit  who  for  believers 
maketh  intercession  with  groanings  which  cannot  be 
uttered.  Yes,  brethren,  for  believers,  for  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  the  very  joy  and  crown  of  believers,  of  those 
who  having  by  faith  become  personally  and  vitally 
united  to  Christ,  have  the  earnest  of  the  Spirit  in 
their  hearts.  If  you,  being  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
have  the  prescribed  evidence  that  you  are  the  sons 
of  God,  if  you  have  received  not  the  Spirit  of 
bondage  to  repeated  and  continual  fear,  but  the 
Spirit  of  adoption,  whereby  you  can  cry  Abba, 
Father,  then  you  may  rejoice  to  think  that  prayer  is 
the  Spirit's  own  work,  that  it  is  a  very  real  and  not 
a  formal  thing,  that  it  consists  not  in  the  repetition 
of  stated  formulas,  but  in  the  uplifting  of  the  secret, 
silent  heart  to  God,  by  a  spontaneous,  ever-recurrent, 
never  wholly  discontinued  effort  in  which  the  im- 
parted Spirit  within  holds  its  mystic  converse  with 
the  central  and  fountain  Spirit  in  heaven.  Then 
you  may  take  courage  at  the  thought  that  if  your 
heart  is  in  union  with  the  heart  of  God,  which  no 
will-worship,  no  compliance  with  external  precepts 
will  ever  bring  about,  but  which  is  the  promised  seal 
of  the  Spirit  upon  faith  in  Jesus,  then  He  who  is  the 
Searcher  of  all  hearts  knoweth  what  is  the  mind  of 
the  Spirit — His  own  Spirit — in  your  heart,  and  that 


304  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

though  through  your  manifold  weakness,  infirmity 
and  ignorance  you  may  know  not  what  to  pray 
for,  nor  know  how  to  pray  for  it,  as  you  ought,  yet 
nevertheless  there  is  a  Spirit  making  intercession  for 
you,  though  His  language  is  inaudible,  and  His 
groanings  cannot  be  uttered,  nor  His  sighs  expressed. 
For,  lastly,  more  than  all,  this  Spirit  intercedes, 
even  as  Christ  intercedes,  not  that  the  will  of  God 
may  be  contravened  and  thwarted,  but  according  to 
the  will  of  God  that  it  may  be  fully  done.  It  is 
with  God's  own  will  that  the  Spirit  moves  in  har- 
mony, not  in  opposition  to  it;  or  as  though  if  God's 
will  left  to  itself  were  carried  out,  it  would  have  a 
different  issue  to  the  will  of  the  Spirit,  or  of  Christ, 
for  He  that  searcheth  the  hearts  knoweth  what  is 
the  mind  of  the  Spirit^  and  that  His  aspirations  and 
desires  are,  and  can  be,  only  for  the  more  abundant 
and  successful  accomplishment  of  the  good,  and 
acceptable,  and  perfect  will  of  God. 


XXVI. 

THE  HOL  V  GHOST. 

Grieve  not  the  holy  Spirit  of  God,  whereby  ye  are  sealed  unto  the 
day  of  redemption. — Eph.  iv.  30. 

NOT  only  is  the  clear  revelation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God  the  special  glory  of  Christianity, 
but  it  is  remarkable  also  that  this  revelation  is  ac- 
companied with  an  equally  clear  recognition  of 
corresponding  duties  which  devolve  upon  ourselves 
in  consequence.  There  is  no  more  forcible  state- 
ment of  these  obligations  anywhere  than  that  which 
is  made  in  this  place,  which  entreats  us  not  to  grieve 
the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  language  is,  in  the  highest  degree,  anthro- 
pomorphic, though  it  does  not  belong  to  an 
anthropomorphic  age.  Had  it  occurred  in  the 
ancient  books  of  Moses,  it  might  have  been  thus 
explained  away ;  but  it  occurs  at  a  time  when,  in 
the  Christian  Church,  at  least,  the  knowledge  of 
God  was  in  the  very  zenith  of  its  brilliancy.  In 
this  respect,  however,  the  earliest  and  the  latest 
books  of  Scripture  are  in  accordance,  for  Moses  in 
old  time  had  written.  It  repented  the  Lord  that  He 

20 


3o6  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

had  made  ma7i  on  the  earth,  and  it  grieved  Him  at 
His  heart}  Now  the  revelation  of  St.  Paul  was 
higher  than  that  of  Moses,  and  yet  he  adopts  pre- 
cisely the  same  image. 

It  appears,  then,  that  holy  and  true  men,  wherever 
their  lot  is  cast,  and  whatever  may  be  their  outward 
circumstances,  agree  in  this,  that  the  wickedness  of 
jnan  is  an  occasion  of  grief  and  pain  to  God.  We 
may  speculate  and  philosophise  about  this  as  we 
please,  in  trying  to  find  out  how  it  is  possible  that 
God  can  be  sensible  to  pain  or  grief;  but  here  is  the 
fact,  if  fact  it  is,  or,  at  all  events,  here  is  the  clear 
and  unfaltering  statement. 

The  waywardness,  and  wilfulness,  and  perversity 
of  man's  heart  must  either  be  regarded  by  God  with 
indifference  and  unconcern,  or  with  approbation,  or 
with  sorrow  and  grief,  that  is  to  say,  if  there  is  any 
reality  in  the  nature  and  heart  of  God  which  at  all 
answers  to  this  human  language.  It  is  obvious 
that  we  cannot  worthily  speak  of  the  Almighty. 
We  can  name  His  name,  but  higher  than  that  our 
language  cannot  reach.  Whatever  we  predicate  of 
Him  must  be  borrowed  from  the  impoverished  and 
scanty  treasuries  of  earth,  must  therefore  fall  short 
of  the  true,  if  it  does  not  suggest  the  false.  Now, 
the  true  question  is.  What  is  the  position  of  human 
language  here  >  Does  it  suggest  the  false,  or  merely 
fail  adequately  to  express  the  true }  As  far  as  we 
can  at  all  trust  the  conclusions  of  our  own  mind,  the 
*  Gen.  vi.  6. 


THE  HOLY  GHOST.  307 


Statement  just  ventured  must  include  every  possible 
aspect  of  the  matter,  and  within  the  limits  assigned 
the  actual  truth  must  necessarily  lie. 

But  heart  and  conscience  alike  bear  witness  that 
God  cannot  regard  the  sin  of  man  with  approbation. 
God  must  be  greater  than  man,  and  holier  than  man. 
Man  cannot  regard  his  own  sin,  or,  at  least,  the  sin 
of  his  fellow-man,  with  approbation,  therefore  it  is 
clearly  impossible  that  God  can  do  so.  The  disap- 
probation man  feels  must  be  but  the  measure  and 
not  the  multiple  of  that  which  is  felt  by  God. 

The  only  question,  therefore  is,  whether  man's  sin 
is  regarded  by  the  Almighty  with  indifference  and 
unconcern,  or  with  sorrow  and  grief,  always  imply- 
ing, of  course,  that  these  terms  are  used  as  only 
defective  expressions  of  the  truth. 

And  this  question  is  a  very  fair  representation  of 
the  issue  between  revelation  and  no  revelation.  If 
God  has  given  no  revelation  to  man  in  His  Word, 
or  has  given  us,  in  what  we  so  term,  a  fictitious 
revelation,  a  revelation  which  is  deceptive  and 
illusory,  then  it  is  impossible  to  acquit  the  Almighty 
Judge  of  all  men  of  absolute  indifference  and  un- 
concern to  all  human  action  and  to  all  matters  of 
sublunary  interest.  And,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  this 
was  how  the  heathen  of  old  had  become  accustomed 
to  consider  that  the  gods  did  regard  themselves 
and  their  actions,  being  not  conscious  of  any  valid 
reason  to  the  contrary  ;  but  as  a  matter  of  no  less 
certain  fact,  the  writers  of  the  Bible  being  conscious. 


3o8  THE   CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

as  they  were,  of  a  special  and  direct  revelation  had 
learnt  to  look  at  this  matter  in  a  totally  different 
aspect.  They  had  been  told  by  the  Spirit  which 
searcheth  all  things,  yea,  the  deep  things  of  God, 
that  man's  sin  was  to  Him  not  merely  an  object  of 
disgust  and  hatred,  that  the  unenlightened  conscience 
was  only  too  ready  to  suspect,  but  yet  more  of  grief 
and  sorrow. 

And,  surely,  if  the  shrinking  from  expected  judg- 
ment is  in  any  sense  a  revelation  of  God  in  the 
heart,  an  answer  however  wrong  and  imperfect  to 
the  voice  of  God  without,  which  it  certainly  is,  then 
the  deep  and  energetic  conviction  that  we  find  in 
the  sacred  writers  of  a  different  nature  in  God,  which 
could  not  only  rebuke  and  chasten,  but  much  more 
could  grieve  and  sorrow  over,  sin,  was  a  higher, 
further,  and  truer  revelation  than  the  other,  and  one 
which,  seeing  it  had  historically  not  been  aroused 
in  the  natural  heart,  had  every  just  right  and  claim 
to  be  recognised  as  awakened  by  God  Himself. 

To  Moses  this  conviction  was  vouchsafed  in 
consequence  of  a  redemption  which  had  been 
commenced,  and  which  he  was  assured  would  be 
completed  finally.  To  St.  Paul  and  the  Ephesian 
Christians  it  was  given  in  consequence  of  a  redemp- 
tion which  had  been  accomplished  in  a  Man,  and 
had  been  communicated  to  themselves.  Certain 
facts  had  taken  place  which  had  reduced  to  a 
tangible  certainty  the  merely  abstract  truth  that 
God  cherished  care  for  man.      He  had  sent  His  Son 


THE  HOL  Y  GHOST,  309 

with  messages  from  heaven  which  bore  on  their  very- 
surface  more  of  the  stamp  of  the  ideal  heavenly 
than  any  others ;  He  had  laid  down  His  life  in 
defence  and  attestation  of  those  messages,  showing 
thereby  that  the  messages  were  genuine  and  authen- 
tic ;  He  had  risen  from  the  dead  to  show  that  He 
had  personally  the  power  to  triumph  over  the 
enemies  of  mankind,  and  to  cast  out  their  inherent 
weakness,  and  to  absolve  them  from  their  hopeless 
captivity  to  sin,  and  withal  He  had  shed  abroad 
upon  them  another  Spirit  which  was  identical  with 
His  own,  and  the  like  of  which  they  had  never 
experienced  before.  This  was  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
the  living  God  which  had  come  upon  them  as  a  seal 
when  they  had  surrendered  themselves  to  the  faith 
of  Christ. 

What  is  a  seal.?  It  is  the  recognised  attestation  of 
validity  and  good  faith,  it  is  the  witness  of  truth,  it 
is  the  pledge  of  security  and  of  mutual  obligation. 
The  Holy  Spirit  was  all  this  to  these  believers.  He 
is  all  this  to  believers  now.  We  do  despite  to  the 
Spirit  of  Grace,  when  we  suppose  that  the  historic 
era  of  His  operation  has  passed  by.  When  we, 
with  false  modesty  and  delusive  humility,  suppose 
that  a  sign,  which  was  vouchsafed  at  Ephesus,  will 
not  be  given  in  London,  that  a  pledge  which  was 
bestowed  upon  St.  Paul  will  not  be  given  to  our- 
selves. These  people  believed  in  Jesus  Christ  as  a 
living  Man  available  to  themselves  and  within  their 
reach,  who  was  to  them  the  direct  and  palpable  link 


^ 


3IO  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

which  individually  bound  and  united  them  to  God. 
Each  man  saw  in  Jesus  the  Christ  or  chosen  of  God, 
in  whom  he  personally  could  lay  hold  on  God, 
could  find  God,  could  know  God  and  retain  God. 
Each  man  found  that  in  Jesus  he  had  the  strength, 
the  righteousness,  the  forgiveness,  the  favour,  the 
goodness  and  sweetness  of  God.  Each  man  felt 
that  in  touching  Jesus,  he  touched  God,  that  in 
grasping  Jesus  he  passed  into  and  became  one 
with  God.  There  was  at  once  the  abolition  of 
sin,  the  realisation  of  pardon,  the  enjoyment  of 
the  grace  of  God.  All  this  was  to  each  man 
not  a  theory,  not  a  fiction  of  the  mind,  but  a 
felt  reality,  an  experience.  Each  man  took  Jesus 
for  this,  and  found  all  this  in  Jesus.  He  became  to 
him  the  Christ,  the  fulness  of  God  the  manifested 
God.  He  was  to  them  health,  salvation,  joy,  peace, 
redemption,  holiness,  fulness  of  satisfaction,  com- 
pleteness of  repose,  assurance  of  acceptance  and 
Divine  favour,  the  certainty  of  Divine  truth,  as  well 
as  the  promise  of  eternal  life.  Being  all  this  to 
each  Ephesian  convert,  Jesus  became  to  him  the 
source  and  fountain  of  a  new  gift,  the  bestower  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  Each  believer  knew  now 
that  he  was  animated  and  actuated  by  a  new  spirit, 
the  spirit  of  exuberant  and  abounding  joy,  the 
spirit  of  purity,  and  of  unutterable  sweetness  in 
communion  with  God.  This  new  and  hitherto  in- 
experienced flood  of  overflowing  bliss  in  the  realised 
presence    of  God   and    the    assured  favour   of  God 


THE  HOL  V  GHOST.  3 1 1 

was  to  each  believer  the  seal  of  the  truth  of  Jesus. 
He  who  had  thus  attested  Himself  to  the  conscience 
of  those  who  had  yielded  themselves  to  Him,  who 
had  given  Himself  to  them  in  the  fulness  of  His 
Christ  glories  and  functions  who  had  unreservedly 
surrendered  themselves  to  Him,  was  and  could  be 
none  other  than  the  Christ,  the  chosen  and  promised 
One  of  God,  who  was  Himself  anointed  with  the 
Holy  Spirit,  that  He  might  shed  forth,  as  from  a 
fountain  in  Himself,  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
upon  His  chosen  ones.  The  reality  of  this  gift  was 
the  seal  of  the  reality  of  His  claims,  of  the  validity 
of  His  power  to  do  that  which  they  had  believed 
He  was  able  and  willing  to  do  for  thern.  They 
knew  now  that  the  question.  What  is  truth  ?  which 
had  so  often  seemed  to  perplex  them,  had  virtually 
resolved  itself  to  them.  They  had  believed  the 
offers  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  claims  of  Jesus  Christ 
to  be  true,  and  lo,  He  had  proved  Himself  to  them 
to  be  the  truth.  Henceforth  they  would  no  more  be 
like  children,  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  carried  about 
with  every  wind  of  doctrine,  but  being  established 
in  Him,  would  be  established  in  the  truth. 

For  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  the  pledge 
also  of  security.  Having  wandered  so  long  in 
devious  paths  of  error  and  folly,  and  having  now 
returned  to  the  Shepherd  and  overseer  of  their  souls, 
they  would  wander  no  more.  They  had  not  yet 
come  to  the  heavenly  inheritance,  they  had  a  long 
march,  a  severe  struggle,  a  desperate  conflict  before 


'312  7HE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 


them,  they  had  yet  to  take  possession,  though  they 
had  received  the  promise  of  possession.  But  He  who 
had  already  done  so  much,  would  not  leave  His 
work  half  undone.  He  would  accomplish  that  which 
was  begun,  He  who  was  the  redeemer,  and  had  re- 
vealed Himself  as  the  redeemer,  would  assuredly 
redeem.  And  the  Holy  Spirit  was  the  harbinger  and 
earnest  of  the  still  future  day  of  redemption,  He 
was  Himself  the  very  pledge  and  warranty  of  the 
perfect  and  manifested  individual  salvation  which 
would  assuredly  come,  but  had  hitherto  not  been  so 
much  as  dreamt  of,  when  death  would  be  cast  out, 
and  this  human  personality  would  itself  participate 
in  the  unseen  but  heavenly  and  eternal  glories  of 
the  Lord. 

This,  undoubtedly  was  the  position  of  St.  Paul  and 
of  his  disciples  at  Ephesus.  There  is  no  question 
about  that.  The  only  question  can  be  how  far  our 
own  position  answers  to  it.  We  have  lately  been 
praying  for  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit, — that  at  least 
was  the  ostensible  object  of  the  late  '  mission,'  but  if 
that  object  is  to  be  attained,  this  is  assuredly  how 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  will  manifest  itself  And 
there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  thus  manifest 
itself  to-day.  I  know  there  are  those  here  who 
have  not  thus  felt  His  influence  ;  I  know  there  are 
those  here  who  would  deride  it,  who  would  regard  it 
all  as  so  much  infatuation.  No  wonder  preaching 
is  useless  when  the  ears  are  thus  closed.  Why,  the 
•archangel  Gabriel    himself  could    not    open    them ! 


THE  HOLY  GHOST.  313 

But  depend  upon  it,  this  is  not  infatuation,  if  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  is  a  reality,  and  it  has  been 
a  reality  for  eighteen  hundred  years.  Here  is  the 
written  record  of  the  Spirit's  influence  written  in 
such  a  way  as  to  stand  for  ever.  It  is  no  question 
whatever  of  authorship.  It  matters  not  one  iota 
whether  Paul  wrote  this  letter, — I  have  no  doubt  he 
did  ;  or  whether  he  sent  it  to  Ephesus, — it  very  pro- 
bably was  sent  there  ;  it  was  written,  and  it  was  read, 
and  as  it  was  read  it  was  endorsed  by  the  answer  of 
the  Spirit  recognising  His  own  work  in  ttie  hearts  of 
those  who  read  it.  If  it  is  not  endorsed  in  your 
hearts,  I  speak  now  only  to  the  few,  I  trust,  it  is 
not  endorsed  because  and  only  because  the  Spirit's 
assuring  work  is  lacking  there.  You  do  not  believe 
in  Jesus  Christ,  and  therefore  you  cannot  shew  the 
work  of  the  Spirit  written  in  your  hearts.  As  long 
as  unbelief  in  Jesus,  who  is  the  giver  of  the  Spirit, 
lurks  there,  He  will  not,  cannot,  give  the  Spirit. 
You  have  not  accepted  Him,  He  has  oftentimes 
been  very  near  you,  but  you  have  not  closed  with 
Him,  you  have  not  reached  forth  your  hand  and 
grasped  Him.  You  have  not,  as  He  was  passing  by, 
stealthily,  shrinkingly,  and  yet  confidently  touched 
His  garment.  He  is  to  you  an  unknown,  because 
an  untried  Saviour,  that  is  why  you  know  nothing  of 
pardon,  nothing  of  holiness,  nothing  of  sweetness, 
nothing  of  peace.  You  let  the  fatal — I  had  almost 
said  the  accursed — questionings  of  the  intellect  come 
between  your  soul  and  Him.     You  debate  this,  and 


314  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

argue  the  other,  with  your  proud  and  self-confident 
intellect,  and  meanwhile  the  Saviour  has  passed  by. 
"  Oh,  it  was  only  a  vision,  nothing  but  thin  air."  He 
will  not  stand  that  sort  of  thing,  He  did  not  come 
to  save  such  as  you,  for  you  decline  to  be  saved,  you 
laugh  at  His  salvation. 

There  are  two  invisible  elements  in  man,  the 
intellect  and  the  spirit,  they  are  distinct  and  separate 
as  the  body  and  the  soul  are  separate.  You  cannot 
tell  where  the  two  unite,  anymore  than  you  can  tell 
where  the  body  and  the  soul  unite.  That  element  in 
man,  by  which  Christ's  salvation  reaches  the  central 
man,  is  not  the  intellect  any  more  than  it  is  the  body. 
Christ's  salvation  cannot  reach  you  through  your 
body.  There  were  many  who  touched  the  body  of 
Christ  who  were  not  saved  by  Him.  Christ's  salvation 
must  reach  you,  and  reach  you  only,  through  the  spirit. 
When  it  so  reaches  you,  your  intellect  will  be 
saved,  and  your  body  will  be  saved.  You  must  lay 
aside  your  intellect  if  you  would  have  your  spirit 
saved,  and  when  your  spirit  is  saved,  when  Christ's 
salvation  has  reached  you,  as  it  can  alone  reach  you 
through  your  spirit,  then  your  intellect  will  acknow- 
ledge the  Spirit's  salvation  in  its  own  deliverance, 
and  emancipation,  for  your  intellect  will  thankfully 
accept  Christ  as  the  truth  of  God  and  the  wisdom 
of  God,  and  your  intellect  being  enabled  to  expatiate 
on  the  truth  and  wisdom  of  God  will  rest  content  in 
the  abundance  of  its  joy. 

And  now,  my  dear  friends,  to  press  the  matter  one 


THE  HOL  Y  GHOST.  315 

step  farther,  as  with  a  parting  word,  Why  should  it 
not  be  so  with  you?  There  is  nothing  overdrawn  or 
exaggerated  in  what  I  have  said.  I  have  spoken  of 
facts,  of  things  that  I  know  to  be  realities,  and  they 
may  be  realities  to  you.  You  may  now,  this  very 
moment,  if  you  will,  be  sealed  with  that  holy  Spirit 
of  promise  which  is  the  earnest  of  our  inheritance 
until  the  redemptioji  of  the  purchased  possession  unto 
the  praise  of  His  glory}  Have  you  received  the 
Holy  Ghost  since  you  believed  ?  If  not,  then  it  is 
because  your  belief  is  a  merely  nominal  belief.  You 
have  not  taken  Jesus  as  I  have  put  Him  before  you, 
so  as  to  make  Him  yours.  You  have  not  in  Him 
received  the  fulness  of  God.  You  have  not  given 
Him  your  sins,  your  weakness,  your  timidity,  your 
unwillingness,  your  reluctance,  your  temptations,  your 
trials,  your  very  self.  You  stand  aloof  from  Him. 
You  are  like  a  man  in  a  nightmare,  who  has  some- 
thing within  his  reach  which  he  cannot  reach,  he 
longs  to  reach  it,  he  seems  to  try  to  reach  it,  he 
upbraids  himself  for  not  reaching  it,  but  he  wakes 
and  finds  it  gone.  In  this  case,  however,  there  is  no 
nightmare,  it  is  a  waking  reality,  it  is  within  your 
reach,  and  you  may  reach  it  if  you  will,  you  can 
reach  it  if  you  try.  You  may  touch  Him  now  if 
you  will.  There,  did  you  touch  Him  then  ?  oh  ye 
faithless  ones,  how  can  ye  be  sealed  unto  the  day 
of  redemption.?  How  can  you  be  saved  if  you  reject 
the    Saviour  when   He    offers    to    save    you — when 

■  Eph.  i.  13,  14. 


+ 


3i6  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

He  presents  Himself  within  your  reach,  and  you  put 
Him  by  ?  Is  not  this  to  grieve  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God,  whereby  you  might  be  sealed  if  you  only  would? 
His  seal  is  pardon,  love,  joy,  peace,  longsuffering, 
power  of  endurance,  inextinguishable  hope  whose 
horizon  is  eternity  and  not  time.  But  above  all  it  is 
the  fulness  of  assurance  and  satisfaction,  the  sense  of 
spiritual  completeness,  of  personal  wholeness,  which 
is  imaged  to  us  by  what  is  said  of  her  who  felt  in 
her  body  that  she  was  healed  of  that  plague. 

I  do  trust  there  are  some  of  you  here  to-day  who 
will  determine  to  prove  and  verify  for  themselves,  ere 
the  night  close  on  them,  the  truth  of  what  I  have 
been  saying.  Do  not  believe  it  because  I  say  it,  but 
do  not  reject  it  because  I  say  it.  Test  it  for  yourselves, 
and  then  you  will  know  the  truth  of  it.  The  issue 
is  one  in  which  the  Almighty  yearnings  are  specially 
interested  and  moved.  God  is  not  an  indifferent 
spectator  to  the  mental  struggles  of  man,  any  more 
than  a  father  is  to  the  opening  character  of  his 
child.  What  He  desires  is  mutuality  of  surrender  ; 
He  has  surrendered  Himself  to  you,  He  is  now 
offering  to  do  so  again.  Your  part  is  to  surrender, 
there  is  no  other  word  that  expresses  it  so  well. 
Give  it  over,  yield  yourself  a  helpless  and  therefore 
a  willing  and  an  absolute  surrender  unto  Him. 
You  can  do  nothing  else,  but  you  can  do  this,  and 
then  you  will  know  that  He  is  the  very  joy  of  your 
heart,  and  that  He  will  be  your  portion  for  ever. 


XXVII. 
THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC   CHURCH, 

Which  is  His  body,    the  fulness  of  Him  that  filleth  all  in  all. — 
Ephesians  i.  23. 

"  T  BELIEVE  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Church"  is 
■^  that  article  of  the  Creed  which  follows  on  from 
the  one  which  we  last  considered,  "  I  believe  in  the 
Holy  Ghost."  Its  relative  position  in  the  Nicene 
Creed  is  the  same,  for  there  it  succeeds  the  con- 
fession with  respect  to  the  Third  Person  of  the 
Trinity,  "Who  spake  by  the  Prophets,"  and  the 
form  it  assumes  is,  "  I  believe  one  Catholic  and 
Apostolic  Church."  From  the  combined  confession  of 
the  two  Creeds,  then,  we  obtain  these  characteristics 
of  the  Church,  that  it  is  One,  that  it  is  Holy,  that  it  is 
Catholic,  that  it  is  Apostolic.  We  will  take  these 
characteristics  of  the  Church  as  they  stand  in  order. 

But  first,  with  regard  to  the  position  of  the  article 
on  the  Church  in  both  the  Creeds.  The  Church  is  the 
creation  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  Church  of  Christ  is 
the  Spirit's  work.  As  in  the  book  of  Genesis  we  are 
told  that  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  on  the  abysmal 
and  chaotic  waters  till  it  formed  of  them  the  order 
which   now   delights   our   senses    and   instructs    our 


Y 


318  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

minds,  so  we  are  taught  that  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
new  creation  brooded  on  the  face  of  the  natural, 
confused  and  unformed  mass  of  humanity,  till  there 
was  produced  that  phenomenon  of  history  which  is 
apparent  to  the  observation  and  philosophy  of  the 
believer  and  the  unbeliever  alike — the  visible  Church 
of  Christ.  This,  we  are  led  to  infer,  is  the  result  of 
the  Holy  Spirit's  operation. 

Again,  for  the  first  time  in  the  Creed,  the  expres- 
sion "  I  believe "  is  applied  to  an  object  of  which 
there  can  be  no  opportunity  of  doubt.  The  Church,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  exists.  No  one  can  call  in  question 
the  existence  of  the  Church  of  Christ  any  more  than 
he  can  that  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  or  of  the  French 
Republic.  There  it  is,  account  for  the  phenomenon 
and  explain  its  existence  as  we  may.  The  history 
of  the  Church  must  remain  for  ever,  whether  we  are 
Christians  or  whether  we  are  not,  the  most  important 
chapter  in  the  history  of  the  world  and  the  history 
of  mankind  that  has  ever  been  written.  And  it  is 
impossible  to  conceive  that  any  chapter  more  im- 
portant can  ever  in  the  future  be  written. 

The  visible  Church  of  Christ,  then,  is  not,  strictly 
speaking,  an  object  of  faith  at  all.  It  is  an  object  of 
sight  as  much  as  the  sun  in  the  heavens,  or  the  exis- 
tence of  man  upon  the  earth.  Every  article  of  the 
Creed  hitherto  has  made,  in  one  way  or  other,  a 
direct  appeal  to  the  faculty  of  faith.  "  I  believe  in 
God  the  Father,"  "  I  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,"  "  I 
believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  the  like,  each  draws 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  319 

upon  the  exercise  of  the  believing  faculty,  either  as  a 
niatter  of  historic  verity,  or  as  an  object  transcending 
the  apprehension  of  the  ordinary  powers  to  which  the 
objects  of  sense  appeal.  But  here  it  is  different. 
The  existence  of  the  Church  is  not  a  thing  to  be  y 
believed,  it  is  a  thing  to  be  seen. 

And  that,  brethren,  is  a  thought  worth  pondering. 
For  the  undoubted  present  existence  of  a  fact  so 
patent,  inevitably  and  imperatively  demands  some 
explanation  of  its  existence.  What  was  its  origin  } 
There  was  a  time  when  it  was  not.  There  are  lands  ' 
where  it  is  not  now.  What  was  it  brought  the 
Church  into  existence  in  the  past  ?  What  is  it  y 
brings  the  Church  into  existence  now  .-*  The  Chris- 
tian has  an  answer  which  may  well  challenge  dis- 
proof, inasmuch  as  when  all  things  are  considered  no 
other  will  be  found  satisfactory,  which  is,  the  being 
and  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Although,  however,  the  existence  of  the  Church  of 
Christ  is  an  obvious  fact,  demanding  an  explanation 
of  the  enquiring  and  philosophic  mind  like  any  other 
fact,  and  as  such  is  not  strictly  within  the  limits  of 
things  to  be  believed,  yet  there  is  an  aspect  of  its 
existence  in  which  it  passes  strictly  and  accurately 
within  those  limits.  And  for  this  reason  it  is  that 
"  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,"  finds  its 
place  among  the  articles  of  the  Christian  Creed. 
And  this  aspect  is  its  existence,  independently  of 
our  observation,  as  an  object  of  which  the  senses  can 
jtake  no  cognisance.     Most  instructive,  therefore^  is 


320  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

the  occurrence  of  these  words  in  the  symbol  of  our 
belief,  because  by  them  the  Church  is  taken  out  of 
the  category  of  things  to  be  merely  seen,  and  placed 
with  those  others  which  either  cannot  be  seen  at  all, 
or  which,  being  patent  to  observation,  like  the  life  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  appeal  also,  like  Him,  to  other 

>^  faculties  than  those  of  sight  and  sense  for  the  full 
apprehension  of  their  being. 

We  are  not  warranted,  therefore,  in  taking  the 
expression  "  I  believe,"  when  applied  to  the  Church, 
in  a  sense  different  from  that  in  which  we  take  it 
elsewhere,  as  though  its  meaning  were,  "  I  believe, 
not  only  in  the  existence  of  the  Church,"  which  none 
can  doubt,  "  but  also  in  the  absolute  verity  of  all  that 
the  Church  has  taught :  I  believe,  not  only  that  the 
Church  is  One,  Holy,  Catholic,  and  Apostolic,  but  also 
that  it  is  indefectible  and  infallible  :  I  believe,  not 
only  in  the  Church  as  an  organised  and  corporate 
society,  but  also  as  an  authoritative  teacher  of  abso- 
lute and  indubitable  truth."  This,  however  accurately 
it  may  express  the  belief  of  many  Christians,  is 
unquestionably  no  part  of  the  Apostles'  Creed.  We 
are   not  required   to   believe    by  the    Scriptures    of 

r  Divine  revelation — we  are  not  warranted  in  believing 
by  the  earliest  Christian  Creed — that  God  has 
committed  to  mankind  any  authentic,  living,  standard 
of  infallible  truth. 

And  a  great  blessing  it  is  that  we  are  not  required 
to  believe  that,  and  that  we  are  not  charged  with  the 
responsibility  of  establishing  an  allegiance  to  it  in 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH,  321 

the  face  of  obstinate  and  awkward  facts.  Those 
who  would  claim  for  the  Church  any  such  function  as 
this,  must  read  into  the  word  "  believe  "  as  it  applies 
to  this  article  of  the  Creed,  a  meaning  quite  different 
from  that  which  it  bears  in  every  other  instance^ 
They  must  say,  not  merely  "  I  believe  in  the 
Church,"  but  "  I  believe  the  Church."  "  I  believe," 
that  is,  "  as  infallible  and  incontrovertible,  every- 
thing which  has  been  propounded  in  the  name  of 
the  Church,  if  only  it  comes  with  sufficient  pomp 
and  paraphernalia — if  only  it  can  make  good  its 
claim  to  be  an  article,  which  a  respectable  majority 
of  people,  calling  themselves  Catholic  and  Apostolic, 
have  at  any  time  believed." 

Now  this,  I,  for  one,  must  emphatically  protest 
against,  and  most  distinctly  do  not  believe.  Any 
such  view  of  the  functions  of  the  Church  must  result 
in  one  of  two  positions.  Either  we  must  believe 
that  the  Church  has  been  continuous,  unbroken  and 
progressive  from  the  first,  that  her  existence  has 
been  maintained  by  an  obstinate  and  persistent 
method  of  rejecting  everything  which  interfered  with 
her  development  in  one  direction  as  is  the  case  with 
the  Church  of  Rome,  who  has,  in  our  own  days, 
signally  verified  and  illustrated  her  policy  of  devel- 
opment and  progress  by  incorporating  into  her  Creed 
ambiguous  doctrine,  declaring  it  infallible,  and  ana- 
thematising those  who  decline  to  accept  it — or  we 
must  fall  back  upon  the  ideal  Church  of  the  first 
three  centuries,  before  violent  and  unnatural  attempt^ 

21 


322  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

at  outward  unity  had  resulted  in  dismemberment 
and  disorganisation,  which  is  in  fact  equivalent  to  a 
confession  that  there  is  actually  in  the  present  no 
Church  answering  to  our  fond  ideal  of  the  past 
coupled  with  an  ardent  and  impossible  hope  that 
eventually  there  may  be. 

Now  in  contradistinction  let  us  rather  say  than 
in  opposition  to  these  two  conceptions  of  the  Church, 
we  adopt  the  language  of  the  Creed,  and  declare 
"  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Church."  Conse- 
quently, as  the  first  essential  of  the  existence  of  the 
Church,  as  a  reality  not  obvious  to  the  senses,  I 
believe  in  the  invisibility  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 
The  Church  is  a  spiritual  body,  having  indeed  an 
outward  and  visible  existence,  which  cannot  be 
denied,  but  by  no  means  dependent  upon  the 
outward  and  visible  limits  of  her  existence  for  the 
truth  and  reality  of  her  being.  The  real  Church  of 
Christ  is  not  that  which  I  see,  whether  in  Rome, 
England,  or  Russia,  but  exactly  that  which  I  cannot 
see  either  here  or  there,  but  that  which  I  believe 
exists,  and  the  limits  and  conditions  of  whose  exist- 
ence are  known  to  Christ  alone.  Thus  the  true 
and  veritable  Church  of  Christ,  in  which  I  believe, 
is  a  Church  which  I  cannot  see,  and  the  limits  of 
which  I  cannot  define. 

Oh,  you  will  say,  this  is  something  very  shadowy 
and  indistinct ;  we  want  something  palpable,  some- 
thing tangible,  something  which  we  can  determine, 
so  that  we  may  be  able  to  decide  whether  or  not  we 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  323 


ourselves  are  in  it.  Yes,  my  brethren,  and  it  is  that 
which  I  cannot  give  you,  and  which  I  believe  Christ 
has  not  given  you.  The  idea  of  "  God  the  Father 
Almighty "  must  be  something  shadowy  and  indis- 
tinct, so  must  that  of  "  Jesus  Christ  His  only  Son, 
our  Lord,"  so  must  that  of  the  "  Holy  Ghost."  We 
are  dealing  with  things  which  we  believe,  and  not 
with  things  which  we  can  see,  for  we  walk  by  faith 
and  not  by  sight}  It  is  analogous,  therefore,  to  the 
rest  of  God's  revelation  that  the  Church  of  His  Son 
is  not  only  visible,  which  is  a  fact,  but  likewise  in- 
visible, and  an  object  of  faith  not  to  be  apprehended 
by  the  senses,  but  by  the  enlightened  faculties  of  the 
spiritual  mind. 

And  now  observe  the  consequences  of  thus  believ- 
ing in  the  Church.  We  are  for  ever  delivered  from 
the  responsibility  of  determining  which  is  the  true 
Church.  How  many  anxious  souls  in  these  latter 
days  have  vexed  themselves  about  this  vexed 
question,  and  are  still  vexing  themselves.  Which  and 
where  is  the  true  Church }  Is  the  Church  of  England 
with  her  various  crudities,  anomalies,  enormities, 
absurdities,  contradictions,  and  scandals,  a  branch  of 
the  true  Church  }  I  confess  that  if  I  believed  there 
was  any  mystical  virtue  in  a  visible  Church,  I  should 
at  once,  and  without  the  slightest  hesitation,  say  No, 
she  cannot  be.  If  I  am  to  have  an  outward  and 
visible  Church,  compact  and  definite,  then  give  me 
the  Church  of  Rome,  whose  existence  is  not 
'  2  Cor.  V.  7. 


324  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

merely  on  a  piece  of  parchment,  the  result  of  a 
compromise  between  conflicting  parties,  and  the 
creation  of  an  act  of  Parliament  which  a  vote  of  the 
House  of  Commons  may  at  any  time  dissolve.  But 
believing,  as  I  am  taught  by  the  Creed  to  do,  that 
the  Church  of  Christ  is  an  invisible  and  spiritual  ex- 
istence created  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  I 
can  regard  with  indifference  any  discussion  as  to  the 
locality  of  the  true  Church,  because  I  am  well  assured 
that  the  Church  of  England  cannot  shut  me  out  of 
it,  and  that  the  Church  of  Rome  cannot  put  me  into 
it.  The  true  Church  is  that  which  has  the  presence 
of  Christ  and  the  possession  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 
And  of  this  Church  Christ  Himself  has  said,  Where 
two  or  three — the  thing  is  unconditional  and  un- 
limited— where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in 
My  name  there  a^n  I  in  the  midst  of  them  ;  ^  and  If 
ye,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your 
children,  how  much  more  shall  your  heavenly  Father 
give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the^n  that  ask  Him?  And  of 
this  Church,  St.  Paul  has  said,  that  it  is  Christ's 
body,  the  fidness  of  Him  that  filleth  all  in  all.  ^ 
Wherever,  therefore,  there  is  the  fulness  of  Christ, 
there  is  the  true  Church. 

Again,  by  thus  believing  in  the  Church,  we  are 
for  ever  delivered  from  anxieties  arising  from  the 
present  condition  of  the  outward  Church.  It  is 
hardly  possible  to  exaggerate  the  outward  condition 
of  the  Church,  take  it  where  you  will,  in  Greece,  or 

•  Matt,  xviii.  20.  ^  Luke  xi.  13.  '  Eph.  i.  23. 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH,  325 

Rome,  or  England,  in  conformity  or  nonconformity- 
alike  ;  and  I,  for  one,  do  not  grudge  the  utmost  that 
the  unbeliever  and  the  adversary  may  choose  to 
make  of  so  promising  and  fruitful  a  theme.  For  my 
reply  is,  the  home  of  the  Christian  is  not  here,  and 
the  Church  of  the  Christian  is  not  here.  He  is  not 
dependent  for  his  life  upon  the  perfectness  of  organi- 
sation, or  upon  the  right  exercise  of  discipline,  or 
upon  the  tradition  of  infallible  doctrine,  or  upon 
any  adventitious  circumstance  of  the  kind,  but  upon 
spiritual  union  with  Christ.  If  he  is  one  with 
Christ  then  he  is  one  also  with  all  those  who  belong 
to  Christ ;  and  one  with  them,  even  though  in  conse- 
quence of  the  various  accidents  arising  from  the 
inevitable  imperfections  of  our  present  condition, 
there  may  be  many  impediments  to  the  full  realisa- 
tion of  this  unity.  Is  not  that  Christian  family  one, 
of  which  the  several  members  are  devoted  in  their 
attachment  to  the  father  and  mother,  and  among 
themselves,  even  though  the  sons  may  be  dispersed 
in  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  and  the  daughters 
may  themselves  have  become  centres  of  Christian 
homes  in  England  or  abroad.  Thanks  be  to  God, 
Christianity  has  revealed  to  us  a  centre  of  unity, 
permanent  and  indestructible,  which  is  independent 
alike  of  time  and  place,  and  which,  though  gathering 
up  into  itself  all  the  natural  sentiments  of  the  heart, 
is  no  mere  matter  of  sentiment,  but  a  reality  centred 
in  Christ. 

And   the   Church   is   a   Christian    family,   having 


326  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

one  Father  unseen  and  invisible  in  heaven,  and  one 
Elder  Brother,  even  Jesus  who  was  crucified,  dead, 
and  buried,  but  is  risen  and  ascended,  not  that  He 
might  be  absent  and  govern  by  deputy,  but  that  He 
might  gather  together  all  and  bind  them  in  one  by 
His  Spirit. 

We  have  been  led  to  dwell  principally  upon  the 
essential  and  invisible  constitution  of  the  Church, 
because  that  must  be  not  only  of  primary  and  funda- 
mental importance,  but  because  there  is  ever  a 
tendency  in  our  nature  to  forget  it.  If  the  Church 
is  an  object  of  faith  and  not  of  sight,  then  it  is  only 
by  faith  that  we  can  belong  to  it.  We  cannot  enroll 
ourselves  among  its  members  as  we  should  in  the 
case  of  some  municipal  or  corporate  body,  for  we 
one  and  all  are  members  already  of  the  visible 
Church  of  Christ.  The  only  question  is,  whether 
that  visible  membership  is  the  outward  expression 
of  an  inward  reality  in  ourselves ;  whether  being 
nominal  members,  as  we  cannot  help  being,  we  are 
anything  more,  and  sharers  in  an  intrinsic  unity 
which  is  indestructible ;  and  this  must  be  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  the  office  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  reveal  Christ  to  the  mind  as  the  centre  of 
unity  and  the  source  of  life.  It  is  the  office  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  bestow  the  gift  of  faith  by  which  we 
are  enabled  to  perceive  Christ,  and  to  behold  in 
Him  the  fulfilment  of  our  highest  aspirations  and 
the  satisfaction  of  our  deepest  wants. 

There  can  be  no  greater   fallacy,  or  more  fatal 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  327 

error,  than  to  confound  Christ  and  His  Church,  to 
seek  in  and  through  the  visible  Church,  or  any  form 
of  it,  or  any  function  of  it,  what  is  only  to  be  found 
in  Christ  Himself,  and  there  is  probably  no  mistake 
more  commonly  made  in  the  present  day.  It 
arises  from  the  want  of  experimental  knowledge 
of  the  Spirit's  work.  When  St.  Paul  says  the 
Church  is  Christ's  body,  great  honour,  it  is  pre- 
sumed, is  laid  upon  the  Church,  as  though  to  her 
were  committed  some  of  those  functions  which  are 
the  prerogative  of  Christ  alone.  For  example,  it  is 
assumed  that  the  Church  has  power  to  forgive  sin 
and  to  impart  Christ.  But  it  is  impossible  that 
the  Church,  which  is  made  up  of  fallible  and  sinful 
men,  can  be  in  her  corporate  capacity  other  than  she 
is  in  her  component  elements.  If  every  individual 
member  of  the  Church  is  defectible  and  defective,  the 
Church  herself  cannot  be  indefectible  and  infallible. 
She  becomes  possessed  of  the  attributes  of  her  Lord, 
His  perfection  and  holiness,  in  proportion  as  she 
appropriates  those  attributes  by  faith  ;  and  the  faith 
of  the  Church  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  the 
aggregate  of  the  faith  of  her  several  members. 
The  Holy  Spirit  dwells  in  the  Church  because  He 
dwells  in  every  member  going  to  make  up  the 
Church  ;  but  He  does  not  dwell  in  the  Church  apart 
from  the  way  in  which  He  dwells  in  each  several 
member,  for  if  so  there  would  be  some  members 
in  whom  He  dwells  and  does  not  dwell  at  the  same 
.time,  which  is  absurd. 


328  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

If  we  would  be  members  of  Christ's  true,  real, 
and  invisible  Church,  we  must  be  filled  with  the 
Holy  Spirit,  the  Spirit  of  promise  which  is  given 
in  answer  to  prayer  ;  then  we  shall  know  that  it  is 
with  individuals  as  it  is  with  the  Church  of  Christ, 
that  they  are  filled  with  Christ  in  proportion  as  they 
are  emptied  of  themselves.  For  it  is  the  office  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  burn  up  the  chaff  with  unquench- 
able fire  ;^  to  consume  what  is  of  self  and  is  not  of 
God,  and  to  fill  with  all  the  fulness  of  Christ.  And 
as  the  state  of  fulness  and  the  state  of  vanity  cannot 
coexist,  so,  if  we  are  filled  with  Christ  through  the 
Spirit,  there  will  be  no  room  for  the  emptiness  of 
self,  but  self,  and  the  things  of  self,  will  be  ^  swal- 
lowed up,  and  then  we  shall  know  by  experience, 
the  only  safe  guide  to  the  spiritual  meaning  of 
Scripture,  what  is  the  meaning  of  the  Apostle's 
language,  as  applied  to  the  Church,  by  having  that 
language  realised  and  fulfilled  in  our  own  condition, 
for,  being  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God^  we  shall 
be  able  to  understand  practically  how  the  Church 
also  can  be  the  very  substance  and  body  of  Christ 
by  becoming  the  fidness  of  Him  who  filleth  all  in 
all? 

*  Matt.  iii.  12.  2  Epjj^  j^^   j^^  3  gpj^^  j   23. 


XXVIII. 
THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH, 

Which  is   His  body,  the  fulness  of  Him  that  filleth  all  in  all.— 
Ephesians  i.  23. 

HAVING  dwelt  in  the  former  lecture  on  the 
significance  of  the  position  which  "  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church  "  holds  among  the  other  articles  of 
the  Creed,  we  pass  on  now  to  dilate  upon  the  terms 
of  that  article  itself,  and  first  with  regard  to  the 
Church's  unity.  That  the  Church  is  one  is  not 
expressly  told  us  in  the  Apostles'  Creed,  but  it  is 
implied  :  for  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  admits  of 
no  second  any  more  than  other  ideas  which  are  in 
in  their  nature  single.  We  speak,  for  example,  of 
the  sun,  the  moon,  the  earth,  and  the  like  when  we 
do  not  contemplate  any  repetition  of  the  object  in 
either  case  ;  so  the  Church  implies  the  one  Church. 

Now  this  again,  it  must  carefully  be  borne  in  mind, 
is  an  object  of  belief.  I  believe  that  there  is  one 
Church  and  that  there  cannot  be  more.  But  then 
it  is  a  unity  that  is  co-existent  with  endless  divisi- 
bility :  as  the  body  hath  many  members  so  also  is 
Christ,  each  member  has  its  own  collection  of  nerves, 
tissues,  vessels,  and  the  like,  which  are  characteristic 


330  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

of  its  peculiar  organisation.  Each  member  has  its 
own  appropriate  mode  of  action,  which  cannot  at  will 
be  changed  for  any  other.  In  like  manner  we  find 
a  frequent  recognition  of  this  principle  of  divisibility 
in  holy  Scripture.  St.  Paul  continually  alludes  to 
the  many  churches  of  Christ}  He  speaks  of  all  the 
churches  of  the  Ge?itiles  "^ ;  he  speaks  of  the  churches 
of  Macedonia,^  of  the  churches  of  God  in  Judea,^  of 
the  churches  of  Galatiaf  and  the  like.  He  implies 
that  his  own  sphere  of  labour  was  distinct  from  that 
of  Peter.^  St.  John,  also,  in  the  Revelation,  speaks 
of  the  seven  churches  of  Asia,  and  does  so  in  terms 
that  shows  them  to  have  been  independent  of  one 
another  as  regards  practice,  character,  and  the  like. 
All  this  seems  to  imply  not  only  that  the  body  of 
Christ  has  many  members,  in  the  sense  of  being 
composed  of  many  individuals,  but  that  it  has  also, 
like  the  natural  body,  many  groups  of  members,  as 
the  head,  the  hand,  the  foot,  each  of  which  is  pos- 
sessed of  an  independent  system  of  organisation,  and 
is  of  necessity  committed  to  an  independent  mode 
of  action  :  the  head  cannot  act  like  the  hand,  nor 
the  hand  like  the  foot. 

And  from  this,  brethren,  I  derive  a  most  impor- 
tant inference, — that  the  Church  of  Christ  was  from 
the  first  constituted  on  a  basis  of  variety  and  in- 
dependence quite  as  much  as  on  one  of  uniformity. 
It  is  perfectly  absurd  to  suppose  that  in   a  society 

■  Rom.  xvi.  i6;   i  Cor.xi.  16.         ^  2  Cor.  viii.  i.  *  Gal.  i.  2. 

*  Rom.  xvi.  4.  *  I  Thess.  ii.  14.         "  Gal.  ii.  9. 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  331 

made  up  of  members  from  various  nations  so  dis- 
tinct as  the  Jews  and  the  Greeks,  there  should  have 
been  one  mode  of  thought,  or  even  one  habit  of 
practice  in  minor  things  :  nothing  but  a  perpetual 
miracle  could  secure  such  a  uniformity  as  this.  And 
whatever  may  have  been  the  practice  of  the  early 
churches  of  the  New  Testament,  which  we  can  see 
differed  widely  from  our  own,  the  writings  of  the 
New  Testament  contain  clear  evidence  of  a  consider- 
able diversity  of  thought  among  the  writers,  as,  for 
example,  in  St.  Paul,  St.  John,  and  St.  James. 

I  believe,  then,  in  the  unity  of  the  Church,  and 
by  no  means  in  its  uniformity.  I  believe  that  its 
essential  unity  is  not  and  would  not  be  secured  by 
any  amount  of  uniformity,  less  or  greater.  I  believe, 
that  its  unity  is  entirely  distinct  from  and  indepen- 
dent of  its  uniformity.  And  it  is  this  essential, 
invisible,  inevitable  unity  of  the  Church  which  con- 
stitutes the  Church  an  object  of  faith.  Suppose,  now, 
we  were  to  substitute  for  such  a  unity,  a  visible,  or 
at  least  a  professed,  uniformity,  like  that  of  the  Church 
of  Rome,  what  then  would  be  the  meaning  of  this 
confession,  "  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  " .? 
It  would  simply  mean,  "  I  believe  in  that  outward, 
dull,  monotonous  uniformity,  predominating  at  Rome, 
which  I  hold  to  be  an  essential  characteristic  of  the 
true  Church,  and  which  I  see,  or  at  least  the  pro- 
fession of  which  I  see,  obtains  wherever  the  authority 
of  Rome  prevails  "  :  that  is  to  say,  an  object  of  faith 
would  be  at  once  exchanged  for  an  object  of  sight, 


B32  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

and  the  exercise  of  the  spiritual  faculty  of  faith  de- 
generate into  the  dogged  retention  of  an  opinion. 
The  unity  of  the  Church,  then,  is  something  I 
am  taught  to  believe,  which  is  deeper  than  anything 
external  which  appears  to  contradict  it. 

For  example,  the  unity  of  the  Church  is  deeper 
and  wider  than  the  principles  and  practice  of  any 
one  church,  with  regard  to  that  which  should  be  the 
symbol  and  token  of  unity,  namely,  the  rite  of  Com- 
munion. A  circular  was  sent  me  the  other  day,  in 
which  mention  was  made  of  "  all  the  churches  in  full 
communion  with  the  Church  of  England."  I  began 
to  think  what  those  churches  could  be,  and,  as  far 
as  I  can  determine,  they  seem  to  be  pretty  fairly 
limited  to  these  three — the  Episcopal  body  in  Scot- 
land, the  Irish  Church,  and  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
America.  All  the  reformed  churches  abroad  are 
excluded,  all  the  Nonconformists  in  England  are 
excluded,  all  non-Episcopalians  in  America  are  ex- 
cluded, and  the  two  great  sections  of  the  Kirk  of 
Scotland  are  excluded  ;  while  obviously  the  Greek 
Church  and  the  Church  of  Rome  are  not  included. 
Now  here  is  a  spectacle  of  realised  Christianity,  or 
rather,  here  is  a  living  example  of  Christian  disunion. 
Clearly  the  terms  of  communion  do  not  constitute 
unity  ;  and  for  any  one  who  does  not  believe  in  the 
essential  unity  of  the  Church,  despite  all  the  outward 
marks  of  disunion,  such  a  spectacle  as  this  can  only 
make  the  heart  ache,  while  it  is  enough  to  quench 
love,  to  extinguish  hope,  and  to  paralyse  effort. 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  333 

•  But  we  may  illustrate  this  underlying  unity  yet 
further.  For  example,  persons  of  all  communions,  I 
suppose,  believe  that  the  Holy  Communion  is  a 
bond  of  union  between  the  living  and  the  dead  ;  there  ^ 
the  Church  on  earth  meets  with  the  Church  in  heaven 
around  the  table  of  the  common  Lord  :  and  yet  the 
outward  disunion  is  apparent ;  there  are  physical 
barriers  which  we  cannot  pass,  and  surely  these 
physical  barriers  are  not  less  than  any  which  can  be 
interposed  by  the  arrangements  and  ordinances  of 
internal  organisation.  In  short,  every  Church  or 
community  of  Christians  is  compelled  for  the 
purposes  of  internal  economy  to  ordain  precepts 
and  regulations  which  it  has  no  right  to  impose 
upon  or  require  of  other  bodies  ;  just  as  every  Chris- 
tian family  has  a  right  to  prescribe  internal  regula- 
tions for  its  own  observance,  which  it  has  no  right 
to  impose  upon  any  other  family,  still  less  upon  the 
community  at  large.  The  mistake  is,  when  the 
outward  observance  of  these  rules  and  regulations  is 
confounded  with  adherence  to  internal  and  essential 
unity.  If  the  Kirk  of  Scotland  is  not  in  communion 
with  the  Church  of  England  that  is  an  accident  of 
family  organisation  ;  it  no  more  disproves  the  fact  of 
both  bodies  being  in  communion  with  their  common 
Head,  and  if  so  in  unseen  communion  with  one  an- 
other, in  spite  of  themselves,  than  does  the  circum- 
stance of  one  Christian  family  dining  at  one  hour 
of  the  day  and  another  Christian  family  dining  at 
another  show  them  to  belong  to  different  kingdoms  or 


334  I^HE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

even  to  different  counties,  or  than  the  fact  that  some 
individuals  of  either  family  are  to  be  found  in  the 
nursery  and  some  elsewhere  shows  that  they  cannot 
be  regarded  as  common  members  of  the  same  family. 
I  am  not  aware  that  if  any  Nonconformist  or  any 
member  of  any  Christian  Church  on  earth  presents 
himself  at  the  table  of  the  Lord  I  have  any  right  to 
withhold  from  him  the  symbols  of  Christ's  body  and 
blood  ;  and  I  doubt  very  much  whether  any  Christian 
Church  on  earth  would  have  any  other  than  an 
ecclesiastical  right  to  censure  any  member  who, 
believing  in  the  actual  unity  of  the  body  of  Christ, 
puts  that  belief  into  practice  by  joining  in  the  act 
of  communion  with  any  other  Christian  body  than 
that  to  which  he  happens  to  belong  himself;  and 
sure  I  am  that  no  Christian  body  has  any  right  to 
impose  as  terms  or  conditions  of  communion  any 
others  than  those  which  it  would  regard  as  conditions 
also  of  salvation.  Now  the  conditions  of  salvation 
are  these,  and  none  can  dispute  their  authority. 
Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt  be 
saved}  and  they  are  none  other  than  these.  We 
may  not  substitute  for  them  belief  in  the  Thirty- 
nine  Articles,  or  the  Westminster  Confession,  or  the 
Athanasian  Creed,  or  anything  else,  and  so  neither 
may  we  make  the  acknowledgment  of  one  or  other 
of  these  formularies  the  condition  of  communion. 
That  you  or  I  may,  as  a  matter  of  accident,  habit, 
or  preference,   communicate  only  in  the  Church  of 

'  Acts  xvi.  31. 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  335 

England,  by  no  means  shows  us  to  be  not  in  com- 
munion with  other  churches,  any  more  than  does  the 
fact  of  the  communion  service  of  the  American 
Church  differing  from  that  of  our  Prayer-book, 
necessarily  deprive  a  member  of  that  Church  of 
the  privilege  of  communicating  with  ours  when  he 
happens  to  be  sojourning  among  us. 

So  much,  then,  by  way  of  showing  that  the 
essential  unity  of  the  Church  is  not  affected  by 
organic  differences  in  the  mode  and  practice  of  com- 
munion among  the  Churches.  As  many  members 
differing  organically  and  in  principles  of  action  go 
to  make  up  one  body,  so  also  many  Churches  differ- 
ing organically  and  in  principles  of  action  go  to 
make  up  the  one  Church,  which  is  bound  together  in 
union  with  Christ,  the  Head,  by  the  unseen  principle 
of  faith  in  Him,  and  by  nothing  else. 

The  next  characteristic  of  the  one  Church  is,  that 
it  is  Holy.  This  also,  I  believe,  although,  as  in  the 
case  of  its  unity,  I  cannot  see  it.  Nay,  more,  as  I 
should  distrust  the  holiness  of  that  man  whose  holi- 
ness was  too  obstrusive  and  over-apparent,  so  I  am 
not  staggered  in  my  belief  in  the  real  and  sincere 
and  substantial  holiness  of  the  Church  by  the  mani- 
fold contradictions  of  holiness  which  are  only  too 
patent  and  manifest.  You  cannot  find  the  perfect 
Christian  any  more  than  you  can  find  the  perfect 
Church.  You  cannot  find  the  ideal  Christian  any 
more  than  you  can  find  the  ideal  Church.  The 
ideal  and  the  real  dififer  here  as  painfully  as  they  do 


336  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

elsewhere,  in  this  routine  and  prosaic  world.  It  is  a 
X^  great  gain  to  be  able  to  regard  the  two  as  distinct, 
and  not  to  be  dismayed  if  we  find  the  real  falling 
short  of  the  ideal ;  to  be  able  to  accept  the  real  as 
we  find  it,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  to  retain  our 
belief  in  the  ideal.  The  Church  is  holy  in  reality 
and  truth,  but  all  the  members  of  the  Church  are 
not  holy  ;  they  are  called  with  a  holy  calling}  and 
called  to  be  saints}  but  they  do  not  all  fulfil  their 
calling.  Which  of  us,  let  me  ask,  would  be  willing 
that  the  holiness  of  the  Church  should  be  estimated 
by  his  own  personal  standard  of  holiness,  and  if  we 
do  not  fulfil  our  own  ideal,  need  we  be  very  greatly 
dismayed  if  others  fail  to  realise  it  too  ?  Here, 
again,  our  safety  lies  in  holding  fast  to  the  ideal, 
and  believing  in  One  whose  realised  holiness  is  the 
holiness  of  His  Church.  The  command  is.  Be  ye 
holy,  for  I  am  holy^;  but  those  very  writings,  like  the 
first  Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  which  dwell  most  forcibly 
on  the  holiness  of  the  Church,  insist  also  most 
emphatically  on  the  practice  of  holiness,  as  though 
such  exhortations  were,  even  in  those  cases,  not 
superfluous.  There  will  ever  be  a  want  of  corres- 
pondence and  conformity  between  the  ideal  and  the 
actual,  at  least,  so  long  as  the  visible  Church  is 
exposed  to  the  trials  and  temptations  of  this  lower 
world.  While,  therefore,  the  holiness  of  the  Church 
is  an  article  of  the  faith  which  is  calculated  to  allay 
our  apprehensions  at  the  spectacle  of  the  unholiness 

»  2  Tim.  i,  9.  2  J  Cor.  i.  2.  M  Pet.  i.  16. 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 


337 


of  particular  Christians,  just  as  the  belief  in  the 
indestructible  unity  of  the  Church  is  the  only 
remedy  for  dismay  at  the  present  spectacle  of  the 
Church's  disunion,  so  also  is  it  calculated  to  stimu- 
late our  personal  efforts  after  holiness,  because  it  is 
a  great  help  to  action  to  know  that  the  highest  ideal 
is  not  an  unreality.  This  is  how  St.  Paul  employs 
the  marvellous  elevation  of  thought  to  which  he  has 
raised  his  converts  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  his 
first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  when,  after  saying. 
Thanks  be  to  God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory  (over 
death  and  the  grave)  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christy 
he  goes  on  to  say.  Therefore,  my  beloved  brethren,  be 
ye  stedfast,  immovable,  always  aboU7tding  i^t  the  work 
of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labour  is 
not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  I  can  meet  the  actual 
unholiness  of  my  brethren  in  the  world  with  the 
greater  equanimity  when  I  believe  in  the  realised 
holiness  of  the  seven  thousand  uncontaminated  ones 
whom  God  has  reserved  unto  Himself  I  can  aspire 
after  higher  attainments  of  inward  holiness  in  myself 
when  I  know  and  believe  that  there  is  One  in  whom 
is  no  sin,  and  that  those  who  belong  to  Him  are,  in 
His  sight,  and  therefore  in  reality  and  truth,  holy  as 
He  is  holy.  This  is  the  natural  consequence  of  be- 
lieving in  the  Holy  Church,  which,  in  the  midst  and 
by  reason  of  surrounding  unholiness,  we  cannot  see. 
Again,  the  Church  is  catholic,  that  is,  universal  : 
surely  there  is  no  word  in  the  English  language 
which  has  been  more  grossly  abused  than  this  ;  and 


\A^.f!!L,«fiW 


338  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

may  we  not  add  that  from  the  very  fact  of  its  being 
so  un-English,  and  therefore  not  understood,  it  has 
become  a  symbol  for  all  sorts  of  associated  ideas  with 
which  it  has  nothing  whatever  to  do.  The  word 
does  not  occur  in  Scripture  ;  note  that,  I  beseech 
you,  and  then  determine  for  yourselves  the  value 
of  the  supposed  mystical  advantages  of  what  is  called 
catholicity.  The  only  approximation  to  it  is  found 
in  Acts  iv.  1 8,  where  we  read.  And  they  called  them 
and  commanded  them  not  to  speak  "  at  all "  \Ka6o\ov\, 
nor  teach  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  The  position  of  the 
analogous  expression  here  is  in  singular,  may  we  not 
say  ominous,  contrast  to  the  use  hereafter  to  be  made 
of  its  derivative,  "  catholic."  We  fall  back,  however, 
not  upon  its  subsequently  developed  meaning,  but 
upon  its  natural  significance  as  indicated  by  the  place 
in  Scripture  just  quoted,  which  is  that  of  iiberall, 
everywhere,  the  Church  which  is  universal.  As  a 
matter  of  undeniable  fact,  the  Church  is  far  more 
catholic  now  than  ever  it  was,  when  it  first  adopted 
the  name  ;  but  yet  even  now  the  significance  of  the 
name  is  as  nothing  to  what  we  believe  it  will  be,  when 
the  apocalyptic  vision  has  been  realised,  and  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world  have  become  the  kingdoms 
of  our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ.  This  is  the  Catholic 
Church  in  which  we  believe,  the  Catholic  Church  of 
the  future,  not  the  Catholic  Church  of  the  past,  any 
more  than  the  Catholic  Church  of  the  present.  We 
believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  of  God's  in- 
tention and  design,  not  in  some  visibly  defined  body 
which  must  first  originate  a  meaning  for  the  term 


THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  339 

"  catholic,"  and  then  establish  its  claim  and  exclusive 
right  to  the  conditions  and  qualifications  of  the  term 
which  it  has  originated.  No  such  Catholic  Church 
is  found  in  Scripture  ;  no  such  Catholic  Church,  then, 
can  claim  to  legislate  for  that  society  which  came 
into  existence  fresh  from  the  hands  of  its  founder 
long  before  the  epithet  was  invented.  Certainly 
those  who  are  the  most  inclined  to  take  their  stand 
upon  the  supposed  merits  of  this  term  are  the  least 
mindful  of,  and  the  most  opposed  to  its  natural  and 
intrinsic  meaning.  What  can  be  less  catholic  than 
to  circumscribe  the  boundless  and  unrestricted  signi- 
ficance of  the  term,  and  to  make  it  synonymous  and 
identical  with  Roman.  If  I  believe  really  in  a  Catho- 
lic Church,  that^  from  the  nature  of  the  case  and  the 
very  necessities  of  language,  cannot  be  a  Roman  church 
in  which  I  believe.  Verily,  in  her  jealous  assumption 
of  this  term,  she  bears  unimpeachable  evidence  against 
herself  to  her  post- Scriptural,  post- Apostolic,  and 
therefore  post-Christian  origin  and  growth. 

Lastly,  the  Church  is  Apostolic,  though  this  term 
is  derived  from  the  Nicene  and  not  from  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  but  we  need  not  hesitate  thankfully  to  accept 
it.  Th^  Church  of  Christ  was  planted  and  watered 
by  apostles,  whose  work  is  known  and  registered  in 
the  writings  of  the  New  Testament,  and  whose  very 
existence  and  conduct  is  unexplained  and  unaccount- 
able if  it  does  not  rest  upon  the  person  and  teaching, 
and  word  and  work  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Every  in- 
vestigation of  the  being  and  existence  of  the  Church 
must    take   us   back   eventually  to   the   apostles   of 


340  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

Christ ;  for  example,  the  Church  of  the  present 
century  rests  upon,  is  derived  from,  cannot  be  ac- 
counted for,  but  by  presupposing  the  Church  of  the 
last  century.  The  Church  of  the  last  century  leads 
us  back  to  the  Church  of  the  seventeenth,  and  so 
on  till  we  come  to  the  second,  which  in  like  manner 
leads  us  back  to  the  first,  where  we  find,  established 
by  unexceptionable  pedigree,  the  very  writings  and 
monuments  of  the  first  preachers  of  Christ,  who  re- 
ceived their  commission  from  Christ.  Here  we  are 
face  to  face  with  the  very  men  who  were  com- 
manded by  those  in  authority  not  to  speak  at  ally  nor 
teach  in  the  name  of  Jesus. 

That  is  the  apostolic  origin  of  the  Church  ;  and 
we  who  have  bowed  the  knee  to  Jesus  on  His  sap- 
phire throne  to-day^  are,  in  virtue  of  the  faith  of  that 
act,  one  with  the  apostles  who  first  proclaimed  His 
name,  and  one  with  those  who  by  faith  accepted 
their  proclamation,  and  one  with  those  behind  the 
veil  who  believed  in  Him  to  the  saving  of  the  soul, 
and  one  with  those  beneath  the  altar  who  were  slain 
for  His  testimony,  and  still  cry  "O  Lord,  how  long?" 
and.  one  with  all  those  of  every  communion  and  of 
every  clime,  of  every  age  and  of  every  church,  who 
receive  their  life  from  and  acknowledge  Him,  and 
one  with  each  other  and  with  Him  whom  they  and 
we  receive  and  believe  ;  for  this  is  what  we  mean  and 
say  when  we  confess,  "  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic 
Church." 

*  Preached  on  Trinity  Sunday. 


XXIX. 

THE    COMMUNION  OF  SAIN2S. 
I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches. — ^John  xv.  5. 

AS  the  "  Holy  Catholic  Church  "  derives  much  of 
its  true  significance  from  the  fact  that  it  follows 
after  the  article  about  the  Holy  Ghost,  so  likewise 
is  it  further  illustrated  by  the  article  "  on  the  Com- 
munion of  Saints"  by  which  it  is  immediately  followed. 
I  tried  to  show  in  the  last  lecture  that  the  true 
unity  of  the  Church  was  that  which  underlay  all 
apparent  and  outward  disunion.  The  true  recog- 
nition of  this  truth  seems  to  me  to  present  the  only 
remedy  that  can  be  found  for  this  open  disunion, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  reveal  a  source  of  real 
consolation,  such  as  no  other  conception  of  the 
Church  can  promise  or  present.  Nor  only  so,  for 
a  union  of  this  nature  points  us  at  once  to  a  power 
above  nature,  creating  and  causing  it.  He  who 
gathers  up  in  Himself  the  most  discordant  elements, 
and  gives  them  a  union  with  one  another  in  their 
union  with  Him,  which  before  they  had  not  and 
could  not  have,  has  done  a  work  which  is  at  once 
worthy  of  God  and  impossible  for  man  :  and  this 


342  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

is  the  work  of  Christ  as  it  is  manifested  to  us  in 
the  communion  of  saints,  which  we  proceed  now 
to  consider. 

This  also  is  an  article  of  belief;  and  if  there  is 
any  justice  in  the  position  already  adopted,  and  any 
truth  in  the  sentiments  expressed,  this  also  must  be 
something  the  cognisance  of  which  is  not  derived 
from  the  senses.  We  do  not  see  the  communion  of 
the  saints,  we  only  believe  in  it  ;  we  cannot  see  the 
communion  of  saints,  we  can  only  believe  in  it.  The 
two  great  thoughts,  then,  are — the  communion  sub- 
sisting between  the  saints,  and  the  character  of  those 
between  whom  it  subsists.  Furthermore,  it  is  this 
communion  which  is  the  prerogative  of  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church,  and  the  result  of  the  operation  of 
the  Holy  Spirit, — which  is  to  be  found  only  in  the 
Holy  Catholic  Church,  and  in  which  the  special  and 
peculiar  character  of  the  Holy  Church  of  Christ's 
mystical  body  consists. 

Now,  in  order  to  understand  wherein  the  special 
character  of  this  communion  consists,  let  us  look  for 
a  while  at  the  nearest  resemblances  to  it.  No  doubt, 
in  the  old  world,  there  was  something  analogous  to 
it  in  the  mutual  interest  which  was  felt  by  those  who 
enjoyed  the  privileges  of  Roman  citizenship.  There 
is  something,  as  it  always  seems  to  me,  very  striking 
in  that  incident  in  the  twenty-second  chapter  of  the 
Acts,  where  a  Roman  officer  who  commanded  the 
garrison  in  the  castle  of  Anton ia,  which  overlooked 
the    temple,    suddenly    discovers   that   the    prisoner 


THE  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  343 

whom  he  had  in  his  power  and  was  about  to  scourge 
is  a  Roman  citizen.  As  tJiey  bound  him  with  thongs^ 
Paul  said  unto  the  centurion  that  stood  by.  Is  it  law- 
ful for  you  to  scourge  a  man  that  is  a  Romany  and 
uncondemned  f  When  the  centurion  heard  that,  he 
went  and  told  the  chief  captain^  savings  Take  heed 
what  thou  doest :  for  this  man  is  a  Roman.  Then 
the  chief  captaift  came,  a7id  said  uitto  him.  Tell  me^ 
art  thou  a  Roman  ?  He  said.  Yea.  And  the  chief 
captain  answered.  With  a  great  sum  obtained  I  this 
freedom.  And  Paul  said,  But  I  was  free  born. 
There  we  see  the  Christian  prisoner  at  once  set  at 
a  great  advantage  above  the  Roman  officer,  who 
only  had  by  purchase  what  was  Paul's  by  birth;  but 
it  is  manifest  that  the  magic  talisman  of  that  word 
Roman  citizenship  has  at  once  established  a  bond  of 
union  and  sympathy  between  the  chief  captain  and 
his  prisoner  which  had  not  been  felt  before. 

And  this  is  a  fair  specimen  of  what  the  adven- 
titious circumstances  of  similar  nationality  and  the 
like  are  capable  of  producing.  Frequently,  to  belong 
to  the  same  country,  or  the  same  county,  or  the 
same  city,  or  the  same  university,  or  to  have  been 
educated  at  the  same  school  is  the  cause  of  a  union 
which  lasts  as  long  as  life  lasts  ;  and  whether  or  not 
this  is  so,  all  are  aware  of  the  subtle  links  of  associa- 
tion which  under  any  circumstances  may  be  thereby 
created.  To  have  undergone  the  same  experience, 
to  have  lived  in  the  same  place,  to  have  visited  the 
same  scenes  at  home  or  abroad,  to  have  engaged  in 


344  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

the  same  pursuits,  to  belong  to  the  same  society  or 
the  same  club,  to  have  filled  the  same  office,  to  have 
served  in  the  same  campaign,  to  have  taken  the 
same  journey,  to  have  sailed  in  the  same  ship, — 
these  and  a  hundred  other  things  at  once  open  out 
channels  of  communication,  avenues  of  interest,  and 
create  links  of  association  and  connection  between 
one  mind  a^^d  another,  and  not  seldom  between  one 
heart  and  another,  which,  but  for  these  things  would 
have  been  left  closed,  or  never  have  existed. 

But,  perhaps,  of  this  kind  there  is  nothing  more 
potent  than  the  accidentally  discovered  link  of  com- 
munity of  friendship.       We  are  thrown  across  this 
man  and  that  man  in  the  journey  of  life,  and  we 
presently  find  that  he  is  a  friend  of  a  friend  of  ours, 
and  is  known  to  some  one  whom  we  know,  and  at 
once  there  is  a  new  principle  of  concern  awakened, 
a  new  motive  for  intercourse,  or  kindness,  or  friend- 
ship, or  the  like,  established.     We   are  conscious  of 
the  subtle  bond  of  common  relation  to  a  common 
object,  and  are  at  once  affected  thereby.     Yet  more 
is  this  the  case  where  there  is  community  of  senti- 
ment.    The  influence  of  a  common  idea,  a  common 
opinion,  a  common  endeavour,  and  the  like,  is  per- 
haps the  most  potent  operative  principle  in  bringing 
men   together  who  were  before  totally  unknown,  or 
had  not  the  slightest  interest  in  one  another.     To  be 
members  of  the  same  political  party,  of  the  same 
church  party,  of  the  same  school  of  art,  philosophy, 
or  science,   is   to   have   a  basis   for  intercourse  and 


THE  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  345 

friendship  established  which,  but  for  such  an  excuse, 
had  not  existed.  All  this,  however,  while  it  reveals  an 
undoubted  and  a  very  deep-lying  principle  in  human 
nature,  is  also  a  token  of  its  weakness  and  defect. 
Why  should  I  feel  and  surrender  myself  to  an  interest 
in  that  man  because  he  happens  to  be  a  conservative 
or  a  liberal,  a  high-churchman,  a  low-churchman,  or 
a  broad-churchman,  a  geologist,  a  botanist,  or  an 
antiquary,  for  whom,  on  merely  personal  grounds, 
I  should  have  no  interest  whatever }  Simply 
because  there  is  in  one  or  other  of  these  things  a 
principle  of  possible  communion  between  us  which 
otherwise  would  not  exist.  When,  in  youth,  we 
are  commencing  a  new  study  or  a  new  language, 
what  an  element  of  joy  it  is  to  meet  with  some  one 
who  has  engaged  in  it  already,  and  is  competent  to 
be  our  companion  and  guide  along  the  road,  and  in 
after  years  the  philologer  finds  pleasure  in  the 
society  of  philologers,  the  mathematician  in  that 
of  mathematicians,  and  the  like ;  but  all  this  is 
special,  and  therefore  I  think  that  society  itself 
teaches  us  that  the  more  truly  a  man  is  a  man  of 
culture,  the  more  truly  he  is  independent  of  any  of 
these  specialities.  The  mere  mathematician  and 
mere  botanist  may  have  little  in  common,  but  no 
t^wo  men  of  real  culture,  whatever  their  specialities 
may  be,  can  fail  to  derive  pleasure  from  their  inter- 
course with  one  another.  And  all  this  leads  us  up 
to  the  truth  which  had  revealed  itself  to  the  Roman 
poet  of  old.  Homo  sujUy  humani  nihil  a  me  alienum 


346  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

puto — "  I  am  a  man,  and  regard  nothing  that  is  of 
human  interest  as  alien  from  myself."  The  real  bond 
of  union  between  us  is,  after  all,  our  common  huma- 
nity. "  One  touch  of  nature  makes  the  whole  world 
kin."  It  is  this  which  gives  the  novelist,  the  poet, 
the  dramatist,  his  power,  and  it  is  nothing  else.  It  is 
this  which  alone  can  give  the  preacher  or  the  speaker 
any  power  over  his  hearers.  He  who  is  not  a  true 
man  himself  can  have  no  access  to  the  hearts  of 
men,  nor  does  he  deserve  to  have.  Now,  the  com- 
munion of  saints  is  a  communion  established  on 
this  broad  basis  of  a  common  humanity.  If  it  were 
not  for  the  natural  truth  which  lies  hid  in  the  maxim 
of  Terence  just  referred  to,  the  communion  of  saints 
would  have  been  an  impossibility.  As  it  is,  Christ 
has  taken  this  basis  and  reared  upon  it  the  edifice  of 
the  communion  of  saints.  He  has  revealed  Himself 
as  the  true  vine,  of  which  His  disciples  are  the 
branches.  He  has  .presented  to  us,  in  Himself,  the 
true  and  root  principle  of  humanity,  the  perfect  ideal 
of  man.  He  has  shown  us  what  man  was  designed 
by  God  to  be.  He  has  revealed,  in  Himself,  the 
original  stock,  essence  or  principle  of  humanity,  so 
that,  as  it  was  accidentally,  and  yet  most  truly,  said 
of  Him,  Ecce  Homo,  Behold  the  man  !^  so  he  says 
of  Himself,  Homo  sum,  /  am  the  true  Man,  the  true 
Vine,  the  original  Son  of  the  Father,  who  alone  was 
made  in  the  express  image  and  likeness  of  the 
Father,  the  subdued  human  and  humanised  bright- 

^  John  xix.  5. 


THE  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS,  347 

ness  of  His  Divine  and  unapproachable,  incommu- 
nicable glory. 

Here,  then,  in  Him,  is  the  natural  and  the  super- 
natural basis  of  the  communion  of  saints.  If  we 
admit,  as  we  must  admit,  that  He  is  the  truest,  the 
greatest,  the  loftiest,  the  most  perfect,  the  most 
human,  also  the  most  Divine  man  that  history  pre- 
sents to  our  contemplation,  then  we  can  preceive 
without  effort,  that  it  is  only  just,  and  right,  and 
natural,  that  He  should  be  the  foundation  stone  of  a 
new  edifice  of  humanity,  and  that  He  also  in  Him- 
self should  be  the  centre  of  a  new  union  among 
men,  who  are  raised  by  their  recognition  of  the 
Divine  in  Him,  to  a  new  dignity  and  degree  of 
manhood.  In  Christ  then,  and  the  Christian  com- 
munion of  saints,  we  have  the  fulfilment  of  the 
two  qualifications  which  we  have  seen  our  common 
nature  demands.  The  broader  the  basis,  the  truer  the 
union.  We  are  not  united  by  those  things  which 
distinguish  us,  but  by  those  things  which  we  have  in 
common,  though  we  commonly  prize  ourselves  most 
for  the  things  which  we  have,  which  others  have  not, 
such  as  wealth,  station,  and  talent.  Yet  it  is  not 
these  things  which  constitute  our  greatest  glory,  but 
on  the  contrary,  those  things  which  are  common  to 
us  all,  the  power  of  feeling  or  of  doing  a  kindness, 
the  perception  of  goodness,  justice  and  truth,  the 
natural  affections  of  the  heart,  by  which  we  are 
capable  of  love  for  one  another,  whether  it  be  our 
wives,  our  parents,  or  our  children.     What  mother  is 


348  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

not  touched  by  the  spectacle  of  motherly  love,  in 
another,  however  far  removed  from  herself  'in  posi- 
tion, or  however  degraded.  And  this  is  the  Divine 
link  of  humanity,  this  is  the  glory  of  womanhood. 
Rightly  and  wisely  did  the  old  painters  dwell  with 
unwearied  assiduity  on,  and  continually  repeat,  that 
loveliest  and  most  Divine,  because  most  human  of  all 
subjects, — the  mother  and  her  child.  These  were  the 
commonest  of  all  objects,  and  yet  the  most  glorious 
of  all — the  perfection  of  self-sacrifice,  the  unsullied 
purity  of  love,  the  spotless  innocence  of  infancy,  the 
very  original  form  of  a  recreated  humanity.  Christ 
thus  gathers  up  in  Himself  all  the  commonest  and 
most  characteristic  features  of  our  humanity.  He 
is  the  meeting-point  of  the  highest  and  the  lowest, 
because  in  Him  there  is  that  which  alone  is  common 
to  both,  and  therefore  the  glory  of  both.  His  basis 
of  union  is  coextensive  with  the  widest  limits  of  the 
family  of  man.  Oh  that  we  could  make  men  see 
this  in  Christ,  for  then  indeed  we  should  make  them 
Christians. 

Thus,  then,  Christ  fulfils  in  Himself  the  desire  for 
breadth,  which  our  nature  demands.  But  He  also 
fulfils  in  Himself  that  other  qualification  which  it 
no  less  requires.  For  He  appeals  likewise  to  the 
instinct  in  man,  which  demands  only  the  best.  It  is 
the  highest  goodness,  the  highest  truth,  the  highest 
beauty  which  is  found  in  Christ,  for  in  Him  is  re- 
vealed the  point  in  which  the  human  is  merged  in 
the    Divine,    the    point    where    man    touches    God. 


THE  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  349 

Thus  while  Christ  says,  Because  I  am  truly  man,  I 
regard  nothing  that  is  manly,  nothing  that  is  human, 
as  alien  from  Myself,  and  thus  appeals  to  universal 
man.  His  character  is  essentially  such  that  it  appeals 
only  to  the  highest  in  man,  and  to  that  in  which 
men  are  like  unto  God.  It  can  only  be  therefore  as 
men  are  won  to  Christ,  that  they  can  love  Christ, 
and  find  their  centre  in  Christ.  Men  do  not 
commonly  love  the  highest,  but  only  what  they  think 
to  be  the  highest.  The  love  of  the  highest  is  a 
specialty,  just  as  mathematics  or  geology  is  a  speci- 
alty, and  the  specialist  prefers  his  specialty,  just  as 
the  Christian  prefers  Christ  And  thus  as  geology 
or  philology  is  a  bond  of  union  between  geologists 
and  philologists,  so  is  Christ  a  special  bond  of 
union  between  Christians,  between,  that  is,  those 
who  have  been  taught  to  see  in  Christ  the  greatest 
glory  of  humanity,  and  the  greatest  good  of  man. 
For  such  there  is  established  on  the  old,  the  world- 
wide, and  the  natural  basis  of  humanity,  a  new  bond 
of  union  in  the  love  of  the  highest  humanity,  and 
the  worship  of  the  perfect  man.  This  is  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  earthly  communion  of  saints,  of  those 
who  have  become  holy  through  their  union  with  the 
Holy  Man,  who  have  thus  been  grafted  into  and 
made  branches  of  the  true  vine.  Between  all  such, 
there  is  not  only  the  natural  bond  of  union,  which 
even  in  a  heathen  could  lead  him  to  esteem  nothing 
human  as  alien  from  himself,  but  also  that  talismanic 
principle  of  union  which  discovers  a  new  motive  for 


350  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

interest,  a  fresh  attraction  for  sympathy,  in  attach- 
ment to  the  same  person,  in  admiration  for  the  same 
character,  in  pursuit  of  the  same  object,  in  possession 
of  the  same  idea,  in  devotion  to  the  same  senti- 
ment. 

As  all  true  patriots,  whatever  their  political 
creed,  are  equally  loyal  to  the  constitution  and  the 
crown,  and  are  necessarily  drawn  together  when  the 
safety  or  honour  of  either  is  threatened,  so  all  true 
Christians,  whatever  their  individual  sentiments,  or 
their  denominational  creed,  are  mutually  drawn  to- 
gether, and  sympathetically  united  in  love  and 
allegiance  to  their  common  Lord.  There  is  a  magic, 
talismanic  power  in  the  name  of  Christ,  and  in  the 
name  of  Jesus,  who  is  the  Christ,  which  like  the 
touch  of  nature  that  makes  the  whole  world  kin, 
convinces  every  Christian  of  a  community  of  origin 
between  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in 
sincerity,  of  an  origin  that  cannot  be  broken  by 
the  accidental  severance  of  the  Churches,  any  more 
than  those  who  are  united  in  a  common  friendship 
or  bound  to  a  common  friend  can  be  severed  by 
the  flight  of  time,  or  by  the  billows  that  wash 
divided  continents. 

The  communion  of  saints,  then,  is  a  communion 
which  they  have  with  one  another,  through  their 
union  with  a  common  centre  and  common  object  of 
love.  Just  as  any  point  on  the  circumference  is 
united  by  an  invisible  line  to  the  centre,  and  may  so 
be  united  with  any  other  point  by  a  line  passing 


THE  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  351 

through  the  centre,  or  by  two  lines  meeting  in  the 
centre,  so  also  is  the  union  of  the  saints  in  Christ. 
He  is  their  invisible  Head,  to  whom  they  one  and  all 
are  joined  by  invisible  bonds  of  faith  and  love  ;  and 
as  nothing  can  separate  between  Christ  and  those, 
whom  He  calls  His  own,  so  nothing  can  separate 
between  those  who  belong  to  Christ,  because  they 
are  united  one  with  another,  by  being  one  and  all 
united  to  Him.  They  are,  as  He  says,  all  several 
branches  of  the  true  vine,  which  is  Himself.  They 
all  derive  their  life  from  Him,  as  the  sap  flows 
through  the  branches  of  the  vine.  One  branch 
differs  from  another  branch  :  as  in  any  one  tree  there 
are  no  two  branches  similar,  no  two  leaves  alike,  so 
in  the  true  vine  there  are  many  members  of  various 
characteristics,  various  conditions,  various  capacities, 
but  all  possessed  of  a  general  likeness,  as  the  leaves 
and  branches  of  the  vine  are  like  one  another,  but 
distinct  from  the  leaves  and  branches  of  the  oak. 

And  there  is  one  special  and  peculiar  feature  in 
the  communion  of  those  who  are  holy  as  Christ  is 
holy,  which  is,  that  the  communion  is  not  confined  to 
this  living  world.  As  the  communion  is  not  to  be 
detected  by  the  sight,  so  neither  is  it  limited  to  the 
world  of  sight.  The  friends  whom  we  have  lost  yet 
live  in  Christ.  As  when  they  were  here  our  com- 
munion with  them  was  not  dependent  on  anything 
we  found  here,  but  on  the  union  that  we  found  in 
Christ,  so  now  that  communion  cannot  be  broken 
because  we  find  them  no  longer  here.     Their  com- 


> 


352  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

munion  is  where  it  was,  and  ours  is  where  it  was, 
before  we  lost  them;  our  communion  was  not  one 
which  we  found  in  them,  but  one  which  they  and 
we  alike  found  in  Christ,  and  it  is  one  we  may  find 
there  still.  They  have  passed  beyond  the  circumfer- 
ence of  our  ken,  and  their  circle  is  a  larger  one  than 
ours,  but  it  is  concentric  with  ours,  for  the  centre 
of  both  is  Christ.  Nothing  can  separate  them  from 
Christ,  and  nothing  need  separate  us  from  Christ, 
and  nothing  can  separate  us  from  them  if  we  do  not 
separate  ourselves  from  Christ.  If  we  abide  in  Him, 
and  He  abides  in  us,  then  we  are  branches  of  the 
true  vine,  and  being  branches  of  the  true  vine  the 
communion  which  we  have  with  Christ  is  the  measure 
of  the  communion  we  may  have  with  them  in  Him, 
a  communion  which  is  an  object  of  faith  now,  and 
shall  be  one  of  reality  and  fact  hereafter. 


XXX. 
THE  FORGIVENESS  OF  SINS. 

In  Whom  we  have  redemption  through  His  blood,  even  the  forgiveness 
of  sins. — Col.  i.  14. 

"  'np'HE  forgiveness  of  sins  "  may  be  regarded  as  the 
-■-  distinctive  tenet  of  the  Gospel.  No  other 
religion  has  made  the  same  daring  proclamation  of 
the  remission  of  sins  that  Christianity  has  made. 
Every  religion  that  has  instructed  or  deceived  man- 
kind has  professed  to  deal  with  sin  and  with  the 
consciousness  of  sin  in  some  way  or  other  which  has 
of  course  been  assumed  to  be  efficient  and  effectual, 
and  consequently  the  necessary  inference  has  been 
suggested  that  the  sin  has  been  forgiven.  And  it  is 
obvious  that  all  these  methods  of  dealing  with  sin,  if 
they  were  really  effectual,  must  have  depended  upon 
one  of  two  things  for  their  efficiency — the  discovery  of 
man  or  the  revelation  of  God.  If  they  depended  on 
the  revelation  of  God,  then,  as  the  methods  of  deal- 
ing varied  in  various  religions,  the  revelation  of  God 
would  vary  and  be  inconsistent  which  is  not  con- 
ceivable ;  if  they  depended  on  the  discovery  of  man, 
then  the  question  would  arise,  Which  religion  had 
discovered  the  truth  or  made  the  true  discovery.?  and 

23 


354  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

then,  of  necessity,  all  other  religions  would  be  worth- 
less, and,  in  proportion  to  the  strength  of  their  claims, 
would  be  deceptive. 

Now  we  may  certainly  say  that  there  was  a  strong 
point  of  contrast  between  Christianity  and  all  other 
religions,  that  the  forgiveness  of  sins  was  not  left  by  it 
to  the  ingenuity  of  an  inference,  but  was  declared  as  a 
fact.  Here  then,  at  once,  there  would  be  an  additional 
ground  of  accusation  against  Christianity  if  there 
was  not  therein  an  additional  evidence  of  its  truth. 
But  in  point  of  fact,  Christianity  not  only  contrasts 
with  all  other  religions  in  respect  of  its  declaration 
of  forgiveness,  but  also  in  respect  of  its  denunciation 
of  sin,  and  of  the  far  greater  and  more  intense  con- 
viction of  sin  which  it  produces  in  the  conscience. 

And  here  is  the  strength  of  Christianity.  It  first 
of  all  accuses  man  as  a  sinner  and  reveals  his  sin. 
It  declares  plainly,  not  only  that  the  natural  con- 
science was  warranted  in  the  estimate  it  had  formed 
of  sin,  which  was  sufficient  to  justify  the  worst  mis- 
givings and  misapprehensions  that  had  been  ex- 
pressed in  the  more  terrific  forms  of  sacrifice,  but  also 
that  these  misgivings  and  misapprehensions  were 
short  of  the  mark.  Christianity,  that  is,  revealed  a 
sin  that  the  natural  conscience  had  not  discovered, 
and  to  which  it  did  not  spontaneously  plead  guilty. 
In  this  consisted  its  charge  against  mankind,  its 
indictment  against  man. 

And  here  we  are  dealing  with  facts  which  it  is 
simply  impossible  to  deny.     The  deeper  conscious- 


THE  FORGIVENESS  OF  SINS.  355 

ness  of  sin  brought  in  by  Christianity  is  a  patent 
fact,  to  which  h"terature,  morals,  social  life  and  the 
conscience  itself  alike  bear  witness.     We  may  join 
issue  with  Christianity  on  this  ground,  that  its  esti- 
mate of  sin  is  an  undue  and  exaggerated  estimate, 
but    that   such    is  its  estimate  admits  of  no  doubt 
whatever.     And    therefore    it    is     that    Christianity 
anticipates  a  ground  of  objection  to  itself,  because  as 
its  distinctive  mark  is  the  freedom"  of  its  declaration 
of  forgiveness  it  virtually  declines  to  deal  with  those 
who  are  blind  to  the  necessity  for  such  forgiveness. 
Christianity  offers  pardon  to  those  who  feel  the  want 
of  it ;   if  there  is  no  felt  want  of  pardon  the  offer  of 
pardon  becomes  a  nullity.      But  it  is  no  proof  of  the 
unreality  or  invalidity  of  the  pardon  offered  to  con- 
fess   to  a  consciousness   of   no   need   for  it.     That 
there  is  no  such  consciousness  may  itself  be  a  radical 
and  primary  defect.     Christianity  affirms  that  it  is. 
If  ye  were  blind  ye  should  have  no  sin :  but  now  ye 
say  J  We  see^  therefore  your  sin  remaineth}    When  the 
Pharisees  questioned  our  Lord's  authority,  which  is 
precisely  what  men  do  now-a-days,  He  asked   them 
the   previous  question.  What  was  the  authority   of 
John's  baptism.?^     Now  John's  baptism  was  a  baptism 
of  repentance  for,  or  with  a  view   to,  the   remission 
of  sins.     If,  therefore,  they  had  not  accepted  that 
baptism   as   authoritative,   if  they   had   not  quailed 
under  a  sense  of  sin,  they  were  not  competent  judges 
of  Christ's  authority  which  professed  to  give  a   re- 

*  John  ix.  41.  ^  Matt.  xxi.  24  sq. 


356  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

mission  of  sin  that  implied  a  prior  repentance.  And 
so  it  will  ever  be.  Those  objections  to  Christianity 
are  of  no  avail  that  betray  in  the  objector  an  ignor- 
ance of  the  true  evil  of  sin.  We  may  boldly  say,  as 
the  Gospel  itself  says,  that  it  is  not  for  such.  It 
comes  professing  to  forgive  ;  its  profession  cannot 
apply  to  those  who  acknowledge  that  they  have 
nothing  to  be  forgiven. 

And  this  is  really  a  fair  question  that  we  may 
reasonably  put  to  all  objectors  to  supernatural  reli- 
gion in  the  present  day,  How  do  you  propose  to  deal 
with  sin }  And  the  answer  would  be,  We  do  not 
propose  to  deal  with  it  at  all.  We  say  that  sin  is  a 
misconception.  Sin  is  the  appearance  of  imperfec- 
tion in  that  which,  regarded  in  a  broader  view,  is  a 
vast  and  perfect  whole.  In  the  wise  and  cultivated 
man  there  should  be  no  such  thing  as  sin.  Failing 
and  infirmity  there  may  be,  for  it  were  absurd  to 
seek  for  perfection  and  entirety  in  the  imperfect  and 
the  partial ;  but  sin  presupposes  a  relation  between 
the  finite  and  the  infinite,  which  is  impossible  and 
unreasonable.  Very  well,  then,  be  it  so  ;  let  us  grant 
that  the  relation  between  the  philosopher  and  the 
deity,  if  he  admits  so  superannuated  a  conception, 
is  perfectly  smooth  and  satisfactory.  Then,  I  ask, 
What  about  crime  }  because  crime  is  a  fact,  and  a 
very  awful  fact,  and  crime  is  not  something  distinct 
from  sin,  for  sin  is  the  cause  of  crime,  and  though 
you  and  I  may  not  be  criminals,  yet  there  may  be, 
and   there  is,  in  us  that  which   is  of  the  nature  of 


THE  FORGIVENESS  OF  SINS.  357 

crime,  namely,  sin,  and  we  do  not  acknowledge  the 
absence  of  the  same  nature  in  the  philosopher.  Is 
it  possible,  then,  that  this  sin  which  is  liable  to  out- 
breaks, so  tremendous  as  those  of  our  prisons  and 
police-courts,  can  be  a  misconception  resolvable  into 
a  mental  error  on  our  own  part  ?     I  think  not. 

But  we  may  go  nearer  home.  We  will  assume 
that  you  have  not  sinned  lately,  that  there  is  nothing 
in  your  life  now  for  which  you  need  shrink  from  the 
severest  scrutiny  ;  but  has  it  always  been  so  }  You 
will  hardly  ask  us  to  believe  that.  You  can  hardly 
believe  it  yourself.  You  can  hardly  say  that  you 
have  never  sinned.  There  must  be  something  in 
the  area  of  the  past  that  you  would  wish  otherwise, 
that  you  would  gladly  forget,  perhaps  have  for- 
gotten. With  respect  to  this  you  must  either  be 
self-condemned,  or  you  are  self-forgiven.  If  you  are 
self-condemned,  then  there  is  the  evidence  of  sin  ;  if 
you  are  self-forgiven,  then  the  reality  of  sin  is  not 
disproved,  but  it  appears  that  instead  of  an  external 
fountain  of  forgiveness,  the  source  of  your  forgiveness 
is  within ;  but  unless  your  sin  is  merely  against  your- 
self this  is  of  small  avail.  You  can  have  no  power 
to  forgive  that  which  is  a  sin,  not  against  yourself, 
but  against  God.  If  your  sin  has  really  been  against 
God,  then  the  fact  of  your  being  self-forgiven  does 
not  prove  that  you  are  God-forgiven.  You  may 
have  forgotten  your  sin,  but  it  does  not  follow  that 
God  has  forgotten  it.  And  all  speculations  as  to 
its  forgiveness  must   be  vain,  unless  there  is  some 


358  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

way  of  getting  at,  or  of  receiving  an  authoritative 
declaration  from  God  on  this  matter. 

So  far,  then,as  to  the  fact  of  forgiveness,  supposing 
there  is  the  acknowledgment  of  sin  to  be  forgiven ;  but, 
then,  observe  that  the  condition  of  sin  according  to 
the  Gospel  is  something  very  different  from  the  mere 
overt  act  of  sin.  It  may  not  be  that  you  are  guilty 
of  sin  now,  but  it  by  no  means  follows  that  you  are 
not  sinful  ;  the  very  ignorance  and  denial  of  sinful- 
ness may  be  your  sin.  The  root-sin  of  the  Gospel 
is  a  negative  and  not  a  positive  sin.  Whejt  the 
Comforter  is  come^  He  shall  convince  the  world  of  si?i, 
because  they  believe  not  in  Me}  The  condition  of  man, 
irrespective  of  his  acts,  is  one  of  sin.  This  is  the 
allegation  of  the  Gospel.  If  man  denies  it,  all  we 
can  do  is  to  leave  him  alone  with  his  conscience,  and 
to  pray  for  him  ;  if  he  responds  to  it,  then  we  can 
proclaim  to  him  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  And  in 
evidence  of  the  reality  of  this  forgiveness,  and  of  the 
authority  on  which  it  rests,  we  can  say,  that  as  the 
depth  of  the  consciousness  of  sin  produced  by 
Christianity  was  greater  than  nature  could  or  did 
attain  to  in  any  other  religion,  so  the  certainty  and 
the  adequacy  of  the  forgiveness  offered  being  greater 
than  nature  could  attain  to  or  conceive  of  too,  is  an 
evidence  of  the  validity  of  the  offer.  For  if  we  reject 
this  forgiveness  as  Divine,  we  must  either  deny  the 
reality  of  sin,  and  therefore  the  need  of  forgiveness, 
or  else  we  must  forgive  ourselves,  which  is  obviously 

*  John  xvi.  8,  9. 


THE  FORGIVENESS  OF  SINS.  359 

something  very  different  from  God  forgiving  us,  or 
else  we  must  be  content  to  rest  in  the  bare  presump- 
tion' that  we  have  been  forgiven,  or  shall  hereafter 
be  forgiven.  Now,  in  direct  opposition  to  each  of 
these  points,  the  Gospel  declares,  in  distinct  and 
emphatic  language,  that  we  have  redemption  through 
His  bloody  even  the  forgiveness  of  sins}  It  is  plain, 
then,  that  the  Gospel  offer  of  forgiveness  is  linked  in 
some  special  and  intimate  way  to  the  death  of  Christ. 
This  is  plainly  affirmed  in  the  text,  and  it  is  corro- 
borated by  our  Lord's  own  words.  This  is  My  blood 
of  the  New  Testament  which  is  shed  for  many^  for 
tfu  remission  of  sins? 

Thus,  then,  the  Gospel  assurance  of  forgiveness 
appeals  at  once  to  the  senses,  and  is  such  as  cannot 
be  called  in  question,  and  admits  of  no  dispute. 
That  the  blood  of  Christ  was  shed,  is  a  fact  of 
history  which  nobody  denies,  or  can  deny.  If  His 
death  had  anything  to  do  with  man's  forgiveness, 
then  man  is  as  surely  forgiven  as  he  may  be  sure 
and  cannot  doubt  that  Christ  died.  This,  then,  is 
the  root-question  :  granted  the  death  of  Christ  which 
we  must  all  grant,  was  His  death  a  death  for  the 
remission  of  sins  t  It  is  not  a  question  of  the  fact, 
but  only  of  the  interpretation  of  the  fact.  The 
message  of  the  Gospel  is  not  merely  that  Jesus 
Christ  died,  which  is  the  message  of  history — of  the 
historian  Tacitus — as  well  as  the  Gospel,  but  that 
Christ  died  for  sin,  for  that  which  is  the  cause  of 
crime,  and  is  perpetually  breaking  forth  into  crime, 

'  Eph.  i.  7 ;  Col.  i.  14.  "  Matt.  xxvi.  28. 


36o  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

for  that  to  which  the  conscience  of  universal  man, 
except  only  the  philosophers,  for  thousands  of  years 
has  borne  spontaneous  witness,  for  that  which,  in  the 
individual  heart,  is  continually  asserting  itself,  con- 
tinually accusing  or  excusing  its  presence,  and  equally 
in  either  way,  calling  aloud  for  condemnation. 

And  this  is  not  only  the  message  of  the  Gospel, 
that  Christ  died  for  sin,  but  His  death  is  likewise  the 
evidence  of  the  Gospel  message.  For  as  long  as  we 
have  these  words  of  Christ,  This  is  my  blood  that  is 
shed  for  the  remission  of  sins ^  it  is  impossible  to  deny 
that  He  taught  that  His  death  was  a  death  for  sin, 
and  that  He  died  in  attestation  of  the  truth  of  what 
He  taught.  This,  then,  being  so,  we  must  either 
admit  that  He  taught  what  was  false  and  died  for 
what  was  false,  or  we  must  accept  His  death  as  the 
inseparable  crown  and  culmination  of  His  teaching, 
and  therefore  as  a  death  for  sin.  But  if  we  accept 
Christ's  death  as  a  death  for  sin,  and  the  remission 
of  sin,  then  the  sins  for  which  He  died  are  remitted 
and  forgiven,  and  then  we  may  believe  in  the  for- 
giveness of  sins,  not  as  an  invention  of  priests,  not 
as  the  self-deception  of  the  naturally  lax  and  self- 
forgiving,  self-indulgent  heart,  not  as  the  mere  pre- 
sumption of  nature  and  of  human  speculations  on 
the  general  amiability  and  benevolence  of  the  Divine 
Being  and  character,  but  as  the  very  voice  of  God 
to  the  sin-stricken  heart,  proclaimed  to  a  guilty  but 
repentant  world,  and  ratified  so  that  none  can  ques- 
tion it  in  the  blood  of  His  own  Son. 


THE  FORGIVENESS  OF  SINS.  361 


And  this,  verily,  is  the  message  of  the  Gospel 
to  a  sinful  world,  and  to  a  world  which  acknowledges 
its  sin.  In  whom  we  have  redemption  through  His 
blood,  even  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  If  we  have  it  in 
Him,  then  we  have  it,  not  out  of  Him,  apart  from 
Him,  independently  of  Him.  If  God  forgives  us  by 
Christ,  then  we  may  be  quite  sure  He  does  not  and 
will  not  forgive  us  in  any  other  way.  The  con- 
sistency of  the  Divine  conduct  would  be  impaired 
and  violated  were  He  to  do  so.  Christ  would  not 
have  shed  His  blood  for  the  remission  of  sins  if  sins 
were  to  be,  or  might  be,  remitted  without  His  shed- 
ding of  blood.  Christ  must,  in  His  life,  teaching, 
and  death,  cease  to  be  the  exponent  of  the  will  of 
God  ;  or  God  must,  as  St.  John  says,  be  made  a  liar 
if,  after  the  death  of  Christ  as  a  death  for  sin,  it  were 
to  be  in  any  way  probable  or  possible  that  sin  should 
be  forgiven  independently  of  Him.  Whatever  the 
mysterious  relation  may  be  between  the  death  of 
Christ  and  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  as  to  the  reality, 
validity,  and  actuality  of  the  relation,  there  can  be 
no  possible  room  for  doubt.  So  neither  can  there  be 
any  question  as  to  the  finality  of  this  relation,  for  if 
we  have  redemption  through  His  blood,  then  we  do 
not  wait  for  it :  it  is  a  present  possession,  not  a 
future  or  conditional  or  contingent  promise.  It  is 
not  something  to  come,  but  something  already  come, 
not  something  to  be  given,  but  something  already 
bestowed  ;  not  something  to  be  had,  but  something 
already  had — through   the   past,   historic,   never- to- 


362  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

be-repeated,  solitary  act  of  the  shedding  of  His 
blood. 

And  so  the  possession  of  this  forgiveness  is  direct 
and  immediate  through  Christ,  not  from  Christ 
through  others,  whether  persons  or  things,  ;  it  is 
distinctly  not  through  the  sacraments  or  through  the 
priest  in  such  a  way  that  but  for  them  it  would  not 
have  been  through  Christ.  The  Christian,  v/e  are 
assured,  is  a  priest  unto  himself.  We  have  the 
authority  of  St.  John  for  saying  so,  for  he  tells  us 
that  Christ  hath  made  us  priests  unto  God  and  His 
Father  P-  and  if  He  has  made  us  priests  unto  God 
and  His  Father,  He  must  have  made  us  independent 
of  a  priest  to  come  between  us  and  Himself ;  for  if 
we  have  not  yet  accepted  Christ  as  our  priest  He 
has  not  yet  made  us  priests  'i*ito  God  and  His 
Father.  If  the  order  is — first  the  priest,  then  Christ, 
then  the  priesthood  unto  God  the  Father,  all  we  can 
say  is,  that  the  first  term  in  the  series  is  here  entirely 
omitted,  and  the  position  of  the  Christian  described 
at  a  point  ulterior  to  it,  where,  having  Christ  for  his 
priest,  he  is  in  that  sense  and  so  far  a  priest  unto 
himself,  because  himself  made  a  priest  unto  God  and 
the  Father. 

In  fact,  we  have  redemption  in  Him,  He  is  the 
source  and  centre  of  it ;  we  go  to  Him  for  it,  and 
find  and  receive  it  in  Him  ;  for  we  believe  that  He 
died  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  that  the  redemp- 
tion which  we  have  in  Him  is  the  remission  of  sins, 
involves  and  implies  and  includes  the  remission  of 
»  Rev.  i. 


THE  FORGIVENESS  OF  SINS.  363 


sins.  Unless  every  barrier  is  broken  down  between 
ourselves  and  Christ,  unless  there  is  immediate  con- 
tact between  ourselves  and  Christ,  we  have  not  that 
in  Him  which  is  to  be  had  alone  in  Him.  To  say 
that  we  have  contact  with  Christ  through  the  priest, 
or  in  the  sacraments,  is  to  imply  that  we  have  a 
special  contact  in  and  through  them,  which  differs 
from  ordinary  contact ;.  or  a  contact  which  we  can- 
not otherwise  have,  which  is  to  establish  an  addi- 
tional machinery  of  mediation  between  us  and  Christ, 
independently  of,  and  over  and  above  His  mediation 
between  us  and  the  Father  which,  so  far  as  this 
machinery  is  necessary  or  indispensable,  is  thereby 
shown  to  be  defective  and  incomplete.  Whereas,  on 
the  contrary,  the  priesthood  and  the  sacraments  exist 
solely  and  only  to  proclaim  and  to  manifest  Christ  : 
in  proportion  as  they  discharge  their  office  they 
accomplish  their  work,  and  Christ  is  proclaimed  and 
manifested  ;  in  proportion  as  they  fulfil  their  office, 
they  are  lost  in  Him,  on  the  principle  that,  as  He 
must  increase^  I  must  decrease}  not  in  the  discharge 
of  my  functions,  but  in  their  relative  importance  and 
necessity  in  the  eyes  of  them  who  most  thankfully 
receive  them  unto  edification.  There  can  be  no 
room  for  the  priest  and  the  Saviour  in  the  believer's 
presence.  As  the  priest  fulfils  his  office,  and  his 
office  is  effectual,  the  Saviour  becomes  the  priest, 
and  takes  his  place.  The  sacraments  do  not  give 
us  a  participation  of  Christ,  which  but  for  them  we 
could   not  have,  but,   having   become   partakers   of 

*  John  iii.  30. 


364  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

Christ  by  faith  in  Him,  the  sacraments  assure  us  of 
that  participation,  and  demonstrate  it  to  the  senses. 
But  the  sacraments  cannot   convey  to   the  spirit  a 
participation  which  cannot  reach  the  spirit  through 
the  senses  but  must  come  to  it  through  faith.      To 
partake  of  the  sacrament  is  not  necessarily  to  partake 
of  Christ,  but  we  may  partake  of  Christ  in  the  sacra- 
ment by  faith  ;  and  so  partaking  of  Him,  the  sacra- 
ment will  confirm  our  faith,  assuring  us  through  the 
senses  of  the  reality  of  that  participation,  and  de- 
monstrating to  the  reason  that  the  act  in  which  we 
have  engaged  is  the  counterpart  and  derivative  of, 
and  in  fact  identical  with  the  act  of  Him  who,  in 
the  same  night  that   He  was   betrayed,  took  bread 
and  blessed  and  brake   it  in   the   upper  room  and 
said,  This  is  My  body  which  is  given  for  you  ;^  and 
who  likewise  after  supper  took  the  cup,  when  He  had 
given   thanks,  and  said,  This   is  My  blood  which   is 
shed  for  you  for  the  remission  of  sins  ;  do  this  i7i  re- 
membrance of  Me?    Thus  remembering  and  believing 
in    Him  to  the   saving  of  the  soul,  we   have,  as   a 
matter  of  fact  and  a  realised  present  possession,  that 
redemption  through  His  blood  which  is  the  remission  of 
sins ;  and  though  we  see  Him  not,  yet,  believing  in 
Him  and  in  the  remission  of  sins  through  Him,  we 
rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  fill  of  glory. 
Oh,  my  dear  brethren,  will  you  not  so  believe  .? 

*  Luke  xxii.  19  ;  M  Pet.  i.  8. 

*  Luke  xxii.  20 ;  Matt.  xxvi.  28. 


XXXI. 

THE  RESURRECTION  QF  THE  BODY. 

So  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  It  is  sown  in  corruption  ;  it  is 
raised  in  incorruption :  it  is  sown  in  dishonour ;  it  is  raised  in  glory :  it  is 
sown  in  weakness  ;  it  is  raised  in  power  :  it  is  sown  a  natural  body  ;  it 
is  raised  a  spiritual  body.  There  is  a  natural  body  and  there  is  a 
spiritual  body. — i  CoR.  xv.  42-44. 

TN  the  article  which  announces  or  implies  the  dis- 
■^  tinctive  promise  of  the  remission  of  sins,  in  the 
clear  emphatic  and  authoritative  manner  in  which 
the  Gospel  proclaims  it,  we  may  perhaps  say  that 
we  have  taken  leave  of  those  doctrines  which  can 
be  regarded  as  peculiar  to  Christianity.  "  The  resur- 
rection of  the  body,"  it  is  plain  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment, was  a  doctrine  in  vogue  among  the  Jews  at 
the  time  of  our  Lord,  for  otherwise  the  Sadducees 
would  have  been  deprived  of  the  very  reason  for 
their  existence  as  deniers  of  it.  By  some,  it  has  been 
supposed  that  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  was 
adopted  by  the  Jews  as  a  foreign  belief,  and  derived 
by  them  from  the  ancient  Persians.  Our  Lord, 
however,  declared  plainly,  that  the  belief  in  a  resur- 
rection was  implied  in  the  words  addressed  by  God 
to  Moses,  /  mn  the  God  of  Abraham,  a7td  the  God  of 
Isaac y  and  the  God  of  Jacobs  for  he  said,  God  is  not 


366  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

a  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living^  and  any  one 
who  believes  that  He  has  in  the  words  of  the  Old 
Testament  something  more  than  the  unaided  and 
untaught  utterances  of  men,  will  have  no  difficulty 
in  recognising  the  germs  of  a  similar  belief  in 
various  parts  of  it.  Whether  or  not,  however,  other 
religions  have  apprehended  or  taught  the  doctrine  of 
a  resurrection  to  come,  certain  it  is  that  no  religion 
has  spoken  out  upon  this  subject,  in  the  same  open, 
and  unmistakable  way  that  Christianity  has.  What- 
ever other  religions  may  have  taught,  or  not  taught, 
there  is,  and  can  be  no  shadow  of  doubt  that  Christi- 
anity has  taught,  distinctly  and  emphatically,  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  It  may  be 
worth  observing  therefore,  that  in  whatever  degree 
this  doctrine  is  common  to  other  creeds  besides  that 
of  Christendom,  it  ceases  to  be  a  doctrine  for  which 
Christianity  alone  can  be  held  responsible.  If  the 
human  mind,  outside  the  pale  of  Christendom,  has 
clung  to  this  belief,  and  thought  it  reasonable,  it 
can  hardly  be  alleged  as  a  ground  or  evidence  of 
unreasonableness  against  Christianity. 

Assuming,  therefore,  that  the  doctrine  of  a  resur- 
rection has  entered  to  any  extent  into  the  national 
beliefs  of  mankind,  what  does  that  fact  teach  us  }  It 
teaches  us  either  that  the  belief  must  have  been 
arrived  at  by  the  unaided  effort  of  the  reason,  or  that 
it  must  have  been  imparted  from  without.  It  must 
have  been  the  result  of  a  deep  instinct,  or  of  a  definite 

'  Matt.  xxii.  32  j  Mark  xii.  26,  27  j  Luke  xx.  37,  38. 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY.  367 

act  of  revelation  imparting  it  to  man.  Now  what  is 
there  in  reason  calculated  to  lead  us  to  this  belief? 
It  is  unquestionable,  that  to  a  certain  extent,  nature 
herself  seems  to  speak  of  a  resurrection.  When  in 
returning  spring,  the  aspect  of  the  world  is  changed, 
and  the  earth  awakens  from  the  deep  sleep  of  winter 
to  clothe  herself  once  more  in  the  habiliments  of  life 
and  gladness,  is  not  the  very  word  we  use  to  express 
it,  resurrection.!*  When  "the  jolly  hours  lead  on  pro- 
pitious May,"  we  see,  as  it  were,  the  resurrection  of 
nature.  She  was  dead  and  is  alive  again.  And 
yet  the  flowers  and  the  leaves,  the  foliage  and  the 
fruit  of  each  returning  season  are  not  the  same  as 
those  of  last  year,  they  are  a  new  series  connected 
with  the  former  one  only  as  one  link  of  a  chain  is 
connected  with  another,  by  the  order  of  succession, 
and  yet  more  intimately  by  derivation.  All  that  we 
can  say  in  this  case  is,  that  the  result  is  similar,  but 
it  is  not  the  same.  The  law  of  nature  is  reproduc- 
tion, repetition,  the  multiplication  of  individuals 
after  the  same  type,  but  not  the  preservation  of  the 
individuals.  So  also  is  it  with  the  generations  of 
the  human  family.  One  generation  succeeds  another. 
The  aspect  of  man  upon  the  earth  now  is  very  much 
what  it  was  a  hundred  or  a  thousand  years  ago;  but 
the  individuals  are  not  the  same,  though  they  are  in 
this  case  the  representatives  and  derivations  of  their 
predecessors.  It  hardly  seems,  therefore,  that  these 
analogies  of  nature  are  adequate  to  suggesting  the 
doctrine  of  a  resurrection  in  any  real  sense.     If  this 


368  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

is  all  that  could  be  learnt  from  nature,  it  would 
hardly  account  for  the  belief  in  a  resurrection.  To 
say  that  resurrection  is  nothing  more  than  endless 
repetition,  infinite  reproduction  of  the  type,  is  to  fall 
far  short  of  what  would  seem  to  be  its  natural  and 
necessary  meaning.  If  then  the  belief  in  a  resurrec- 
tion had  really  been  attained,  it  would  seem  that  it 
must  have  come  fronr  other  sources.  When  a  son 
stands  over  the  open  grave  of  his  dead  father,  and 
professes  his  belief  in  the  resurrection,  he  does  not, 
cannot  mean  that  the  father  is  risen  again  in  himself, 
the  son — that  would  be  a  truism,  and  an  obvious 
fact.  Whatever  nations  have  held  the  faith  of  a 
resurrection,  must  have  meant  by  it  much  more  than 
this.  But  it  does  not  seem  that  nature  could  teach  them 
much  more,  or  therefore  lead  them  to  the  doctrine  of 
a  resurrection.  Surely  to  whatever  extent  they  held 
that  doctrine,  it  must  have  been  the  result  of  a  deep 
irrepressible  inextinguishable  instinct :  and  therefore 
the  inculcation  of  the  Divine,  just  as  the  mother's 
love,  is  taught  by  God,  or  else  it  must  have  been  the 
remnant  of  an  original  Divine  revelation. 

And  though  considering  the  extent  of  its  hold 
upon  the  human  mind,  it  cannot  be  said  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection  is  contrary  to  reason,  yet 
it  would  be  absurd  to  say  that  it  is  not  a  doctrine 
above  and  beyond  reason.  So  manifestly  is  this  the 
case,  that  it  is  well-nigh  impossible  that  the  belief 
can  have  been  derived  from  reason,  and  it  must 
almost  necessarily  point  us  to  revelation. 


THE  RESURRECTION'  OF  THE  BODY.  369 

What  then,  is  it,  that  we  learn  from  Revelation  ? 
A  seed  is  cast  into  the  ground  and  dies,  but  after  it 
has  died  it  springs  up  again,  not  as  it  was  before,  but 
another  "  body  "  :  the  same,  inasmuch  as  the  "body," 
a  plant  derived  from  one  seed,  is  different  from  that 
derived  from  another  seed,  but  not  the  same  inas- 
much as  the  plant  is  different  from  the  seed.  Here, 
then,  we  get  the  great  law  of  the  preservation  of  in- 
dividuality in  and  through  dissolution.  That  which 
thou  sowesty  thou  sowest  not  that  body  which  shall  be, 
but  bare  grain ,  it  may  chance  of  wheat  or  of  some 
other  grain,  but  God  giveth  it  a  body  as  it  hath 
pleased  Him,  and  to  every  seed  his  own  body}  That 
which  is  raised  is  the  same  and  yet  not  the  same ;  and 
so  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  which  is  the 
same  inasmuch  as  it  is  not  another  as  the  son  who  suc- 
ceeds his  father  is  another,  but  yet  not  the  same,  for 
it  is  sown  in  corruption,  and  raised  in  incorruption. 

A  profound  mystery,  my  brethren,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  everything  which  transcends  the  limits 
of  our  experience  must  be  mysterious  until  we  have 
experienced  it,  but  therefore  for  that  very  reason  a 
truth,  which,  if  a  truth,  can  only  be  derived  by 
revelation  from  the  source  of  truth.  St.  Paul  must 
have  been  as  ignorant  as  you  or  I  on  this  matter  of 
the  resurrection,  and  as  incompetent  to  arrive  at  any 
knowledge  about  it,  except  so  far  as  that  know- 
ledge was  imparted  to  him  by  the  Most  High. 

In   the  statement  of    Scripture,  then,  about    the 

'  I  Cor.  XV.,  37,  38. 

24 


370  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

resurrection,  we  seem  to  have  got  more  than  reason 
could  have  guided  us  to,  and  therefore  that  which 
reason  cannot  understand.  By  reason  alone  we  could 
not  have  got  so  far  ;  no  wonder  therefore,  if  being 
where  we  are,  we  find  our  reason  baffled. 

But  let  us  gather  up  what  Scripture  has  taught 
us  on  the  matter. 

First,  then,  the  resurrection  of  the  body  is  some- 
thing distinct  from  the  resurrection  of  the  spirit.  It 
is  clear  not  only  from  this  chapter,  but  from  others, 
that  there  were  those  in  the  Apostle's  time,  who  had 
made  the  two  convertible.  The  notion  of  a  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body  was  a  stumblingblock  to  them,  as 
it  is  to  us,  and  they  tried  to  elude  it  by  dwelling  on 
the  resurrection  which  takes  place  by  faith  in  Christ. 
If  St.  Paul  is  orthodox  on  this  matter,  it  is  perfectly 
certain  they  were  not.  He  taught  distinctly  that 
there  is  a  resurrection  of  the  body.  And  in  fact  the 
body  is  an  integral  part  of  the  human  entity.  We 
cannot  have  a  man  without  a  body,  any  more  than 
we  can  have  a  flower  without  petals,  or  a  fruit  with- 
out substance.  If  therefore  there  is  to  be  a  resur- 
rection of  the  man,  there  must  be  a  resurrection  of 
the  body. 

But  how,  if  the  body  is  dissolved  into  its  component 
elements,  which  are  scattered  to  the  four  winds,  and 
become  portions  of  other  beings,  beasts,  fishes,  birds 
and  plants,  and  are  destined  again  to  return  to  cor- 
ruption, in  never-ending  succession  ,!*  Here  is  the 
very  point  at  which  reason,  having  been  led  thereto 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY.  371 

by  faith,  turns  back  in  dismay,  faint  and  dizzy  at  the 
prospect  before  her. 

And  it  is  manifestly  hopeless  to  render  her  posi- 
tion more  secure.  We  cannot  do  it.  Reason  must 
wait,  and  stay  herself  upon  faith,  but  she  has  certain 
principles  to  cling  to,  one  is  the  preservation  of  the 
individual,  or  of  personal,  identity.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  we  know  that  this  preservation  is  maintained 
under  circumstances  no  less  staggering  to  the  pro- 
cesses of  reason  and  the  efforts  of  the  understanding. 
There  is  not  one  particle  of  the  same  substance  or 
matter  in  your  body,  or  in  mine,  now  that  there  was 
ten  years  ago,  and  yet  our  identity  is  preserved,  and 
in  many  cases  our  appearance  even  is  but  little 
changed.  We  know  that  we  are  the  same,  our 
friends  recognise  us  as  the  same.  Is  not  this  a 
mystery }  Can  you  account  for  it  t  Can  I  ?  Can 
anyone }  Take  again  the  law  of  growth.  A  child 
is  bom  with  a  very  small  body,  it  is  preserved  with 
great  solicitude  and  care,  through  a  variety  of  acci- 
dents and  dangers,  and  it  gathers  bulk — where  from  ? 
— till  by  slow  degrees  the  child  has  become  a  boy, 
and  the  boy  has  become  a  man,  and  then  the  process 
of  growth  which  has  continued,  perhaps  for  twenty 
years  or  so  without  intermission,  suddenly  stops,  but 
why  }  Can  any  one  tell  }  The  only  reason  we  can 
give  is,  that  these  things  are  so,  because  they  are  so  ; 
but  "  O  most  lame  and  impotent  conclusion  ! "  But 
it  is,  however,  perfectly  obvious,  that  of  the  child  who 
has  thus  become  a  man,  no  vestige  has  remained  at 


372  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

various  successive  stages  of  his  growth.  Every  par- 
ticle has  become  dissolved,  over  and  over  again,  has 
passed  into  other  beings  and  the  like  :  is  there  no 
mystery  here  ?  And  yet  this  is  a  patent  fact  before  our 
own  eyes,  occuring  in  thousands  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  instances,  in  fact  in  every  instance.  And 
shall  we  say  that  the  preservation  of  the  individual 
and  of  personal  identity,  in  and  through  death,  after 
a  visible  dissolution  has  passed  upon  the  body  is  a 
thing  impossible  }  Why  impossible  1  What  do  we 
know  about  the  possible  or  the  impossible  ?  In  the 
vocabulary  of  the  Almighty,  the  word  impossible  is 
not  found  ;  inconceivable  it  may  be  ;  unintelligible  it 
is  ;  incredible,  but  for  certain  considerations  it  might 
well  be  ;  but  impossible  !  nay  we  must  know  a  little 
more  about  the  limits  of  the  possible  before  we  dare 
say  that.  When  it  is  a  known  fact  then,  that  the 
actual  body  of  every  one  of  us  has  already  been  the 
subject  of  a  certain  resurrection  many  times,  shall 
we  refuse  to  believe  that  there  is  yet  another  and  a 
greater  resurrection  reserved  for  it,  which  may  or 
may  not  have  a  greater  or  less  analogy  with  those 
which  have  already  occurred,  but  which,  unlike  them, 
shall  be  its  final  resurrection.  On  the  conditions  of 
this  resurrection  it  were  vain  to  speculate.  We  can 
only  suppose  that  the  body  shall  be  a  body  still, 
though  no  longer  corrupt,  dishonourable  or  weak,  it 
shall  be  a  body,  even  as  the  body  of  the  risen 
Christ  was  a  body  which  bore  the  marks  of  the  nails 
and  spear ;  but  it  shall  not  be  a  natural  or  psychical, 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY.  373 

but  a  spiritual  or  pneumatical  body,  that  is  to  say, 
it  shall  not  be  an  animal  body,  but  it  shall  be  a 
spiritual  body  More  than  this  we  know  not  and 
cannot  find  out,  and  what  perchance  even  this  may 
mean  we  dare  not  guess. 

But  two  other  relative  thoughts  Scripture  seems 
to  give  us.  As  we  have  seen,  our  Lord  deduced  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection  from  the  words  spoken 
to  Moses  in  the  memorable  declaration,  God  is  not 
the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living,  implying  surely, 
therefore,  that  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  were  yet 
alive  in  God,  and  also,  as  it  seems  to  me,  in  some 
sense  risen,  if  we  are  to  preserve  the  validity  of  His 
argument,  otherwise,  how  would  their  being  alive  in 
God  prove  the  resurrection  t  If  God  was  the  God 
of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  thereby  the  God 
of  the  living  and  not  of  the  dead,  then  those  of  whom 
He  was  the  God  were  living,  and  in  communion 
with  Him  ;  their  mortal  bodies  had  turned  again  to 
their  dust,  but  they  were  not  dead,  and  the  bodies 
which  had  died  and  turned  to  dust  did  not  constitute 
them.  We  do  not  wish  to  dogmatise  on  a  mattei? 
of  such  profound  obscurity ;  but,  verily,  the  thought 
appears  to  be  suggested  by  the  words  of  our  Lord, 
that,  after  all,  we  may  have  erred  in  mixing  up  the 
notion  of  time  with  the  fact  of  the  resurrection,  in 
relegating  that  resurrection  to  a  point  beyond  a  vast 
and  unlimited  gulf  of  time. 

The  resurrection  is  a  condition  which  is  inde- 
pendent   of   time,   and  not  measured^  by  time,  nor 


374  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

modified  by  time.  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again^ 
said  Christ  to  Martha.  /  know  that  Ju  shall  rise 
again  in  tJie  resurrection  at  the  last  day}  was  her 
reply,  mixing  up  the  condition  of  the  resurrection 
with  an  indefinite  conception  of  future  time ;  but 
Jesus  said  unto  her,  in  ever  memorable  words,  /  am 
the  resurrectiony  and  the  life :  he  that  believeth  in  Me, 
though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live :  and  whosoever 
liveth  and  believeth  in  Me  shall  never  die.  Believest 
thou  this  f'^  If  the  body  is  essential  to  the  integrity 
of  man,  though  particular  parts  or  accidents  of  the 
body  are  not  essential  to  the  identity  of  the  indi- 
vidual, we  know  not  what  change  has  passed  upon 
the  man  when  the  being  with  whom  we  held  personal 
and  spiritual  converse  has  passed  away  and  left  us 
nothing  but  the  husk  of  his  visible  and  lifeless  clay. 
Thou  sowest  not  that  body  that  shall  be^  but  bare 
grain  ;  and,  That  which  thou  sowest  is  not  quickened 
except  it  die  ;  ^  but  out  of  the  body  so  sown,  though  the 
when  and  the  where  we  know  not,  any  more  than  we 
know  the  how^  there  cometh  forth  a  body  the  same, 
yet  not  the  same ;  the  same  as  regards  personal 
identity,  but  not  the  same  as  regardeth  accidents  ; 
for,  It  is  sown  in  corruption;  but,  it  is  raised  in 
incorruptio7i :  the  verbs  are  impersonal  verbs  without 
a  subject,  (nreipeTai  iyeipeTat,.  It  is  sown  in  dis- 
honour, it  is  raised  in  glory :  it  is  sown  in  weakness, 
it  is  raised  in  power :  it  is  sown  a  natural  body,  it  is 

*  John  xi.  23,  24.  '  I  Cor.  xv.  37,  36. 

2  Johnxi.  25,  26. 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY.  375 

raised  a  spiritual  body}  There  is  a  natural  body,  and 
there  is  a  spiritual  body.  Does  not  this,  and  similar 
language,  suggest  the  thought  that  the  resurrection 
is  the  change  of  the  natural  body  into  the  spiritual 
body,  and  if  this  was  already  a  fact  to  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  as  our  Lord's  language  seems 
partly,  at  least,  to  hint,  may  it  not  also  be  a  fact  to 
all  those  who  are  heirs  with  them  of  the  same promisef  ^ 
What  if  this  was  that  very  mystery  which  the  Apostle 
would  show  the  Corinthians,  IVe  shall  not  all  sleep, 
but  we  shall  all  be  changed,  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye,  at  the  last  trump? 

But  this  brings  us  to  the  other  thought  of  which 
I  spoke,  that  though  the  language  of  our  Lord  and 
St.  John  seems  to  point  us  to  an  actual  and  present 
resurrection,  which  becomes  a  reality  to  those  who 
believe  in  Christ,  whether  in  life  or  in  death,  yet 
there  is  also  another  aspect  which  seems  well  nigh 
to  have  cast  out  the  other  from  our  popular  belief, 
which  is  that  of  a  final  and  general  resurrection,  at  a 
definite  but  unknown  point  of  future  time,  When  the 
sea  shall  give  up  the  dead  which  are  in  it ;  and  death 
and  hell  shall  deliver  up  the  dead  which  are  in  them?" 
How  far  such  expressions  are  to  be  interpreted 
literally,  we  do  not  presume  to  say.  It  might  seem 
that  the  truth  they  teach  is  the  preservation  of  every 
single  responsible  human  agent  in  his  integrity  in 
the  safe  custody  of  God  till  the  day  of  final  reckon- 

*  I  Cor.  XV.  42—44.  »  I  Cor.  xv.  51,  52. 

*  Heb.  xi.  9.  *  Rev.  xx.  13. 


376  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

ing,  and  only  this  ;  but,  at  all  events,  the  day  is 
hastening  on  which  shall  declare  it,  and  already 
the  Lord  of  Hosts  muster eth  the  host  of  the  battled 
That  there  shall  be  a  great  gathering  at  the  last, 
when  the  Lord  comes  to  make  up  His  jewels,  from 
all  times,  nations,  and  languages,  none  can  doubt. 
How  far  that  gathering  has  even  yet  been  prepared 
for  in  the  invisible  world  we  know  not.  In  the 
obvious  obscurity  of  Scripture  we  cannot  say.  This 
only  we  know,  that  if  Jesus  is  the  resurrection  and 
the  life,  then  to  believe  in  Him  is  to  be  risen  from 
the  dead  now,  and  to  live  for  evermore,  to  have  the 
promise  of  the  life  that  now  is^  and  of  the  endless  life 
to  come^  and  then  to  die  is  to  fall  asleep  in,  and  to 
live  again  in  Him.  For  if  we  believe  that  yesus  died 
and  rose  again,  even  so  them  also  which  sleep  in  Jesus 
will  God  bring  with  Him?  For  to  this  end  Christ  both 
died,  and  rose,  and  revived,  that  He  might  be  Lord  both 
of  the  dead  and  living.^     Even  so  be  it,  Amen. 

*  Isa.  xiii.  4.  '  I  Thess.  iv.  14. 

'  I  Tim.  iv.  8.  *  Rom.  xiv.  9. 


XXXII. 
THE  LIFE  EVERLASTING. 

For  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life. 
— ^JOHN  iii.  1 6. 

T  ^  JE  come  now  to  the  issue  of  all  practice,  and 
^  ^  the  end  of  all  belief — the  "  life  everlasting." 
This,  according  to  the  words  of  our  Lord  just  read, 
was  the  purpose  for  which  He  was  given  to  the 
world,  that  we  might  have  eternal  life.  We  say 
that  we  believe  in  the  life  everlasting.  What  do 
we  mean  by  it }  Strange  to  say,  there  is  perhaps 
nothing  which  is  at  once  so  intelligible,  and  yet  so 
hopelessly  unintelligible,  as  this  same  life  everlasting 
or  eternity  of  existence. 

The  belief  in  immortality  is  an  instinct.  Is  there 
any  one  of  us  whose  heart,  when  questioned  nar- 
rowly, does  not  assure  him  in  accents  unmistakable, 
albeit  inaudible,  that  he  cannot  die;  that  there  is  in 
him  an  indestructible  essence,  an  unquenchable  spark, 
which  is  independent  of  change  and  unrelated  to 
time,  and  which  therefore  must  be  unaffected  by  and 
superior  to  death  ?  There  can  be  no  question  but 
that  a  very  large  induction,  based  upon  the  ex- 
perience of  the  vast  majority  of  mankind,  confirms 


378  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

this  statement.  It  is  not  that  in  earlier  and  later 
times  there  have  not  been  those  who  have  grudged 
and  endeavoured  to  wrench  from  man  his  birthright 
of  immortality,  but  not  only  the  great  majority  of 
thinking  men  have  arrived  at  the  conviction  that 
man  is  immortal,  but,  what  is  even  more  to  the  point 
in  such  a  case,  the  popular  belief  of  by  far  the  larger 
portion  of  mankind  has  instinctively  declared  in 
favour  of  such  a  conviction.  Indeed,  the  immortality 
of  man,  or  as  it  used  to  be  called  the  immortality  of 
the  soul,  was  a  doctrine  familiar  to  many  nations 
and  to  many  beliefs  long  before  Christianity  was  first 
preached.  To  acknowledge  this,  which  is  an  un- 
questionable fact,  is  not  at  all  to  detract  from  the 
glory  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who,  St.  Paul  says, 
abolished  death  and  brought  life  a7id  immortality  to 
light  through  the  gospels  Here,  however,  as  was 
observed  in  the  last  lecture,  we  must  distinguish 
carefully  between  the  immortality  of  man  and  the 
deathlessness  of  the  individual.  The  immortality  of 
the  soul  is  a  Pagan  and  a  very  chilly  doctrine,  as 
well  as  a  shadowy  and  a  very  vague  doctrine.  The 
thought  of  the  former  inhabitants  of  the  world  being 
reduced  to  the  condition  of  insubstantial  disembodied 
spirits  is  a  notion  calculated,  I  should  imagine,  to 
give  but  little  comfort  to  any  one.  It  is  the  notion 
which  the  irrepressible  instinct  of  the  human  heart, 
when  left  to  itself  and  unaided  is  likely  to  beget. 
It  is  the  net  result  of  the  heathen  poet's  belief  which 

*  2  Tim.  i.  lo. 


THE  LIFE  EVERLASTING.  379 

he  cannot  get  rid  of,  Noit  omnis  moriar^  "  I  shall  not 
wholly  die."  It  is  the  witness  to  that  instinct,  the 
evidence  and  token  of  it.  Even  this  notion,  however, 
vindicates  to  a  certain  extent  the  immortality  of  the 
separate  man,  the  deathlessness  of  the  ego  or  the  I. 

But  it  is  obvious  that  the  notion  of  the  immortality 
of  man  is  perfectly  well  susceptible  of  a  very  different 
meaning,  only  then  it  becomes  the  expression  of  a 
fact,  and  not  the  utterance  of  a  belief  It  is  obvious 
that  man  is  immortal.  Any  one  who  has  stood  in 
the  magnificent  amphitheatre  at  Verona  must  have 
felt  the  presence  of  this  fact.  Man  is  immortal  in 
his  works  ;  the  pyramids  of  Egypt  and  the  ruins  of 
Rome  alike  attest  it.  There  is  the  abiding  evidence 
of  the  existence  of  men  who  have  long  passed  away. 
Even  greater  than  such  evidence  is  the  witness  of 
literary  monuments,  Exegi  monumentum  (Ere perennins : 
"  I  have  reared  for  myself  a  monument  more  durable 
than  bronze "  was  the  proud  consciousness  of  the 
Roman  poet,  which  is  that  also  of  all  who,  like  him, 
have  produced  works  that  cannot  die.  This,  how- 
ever, is  and  can  be  the  heritage  only  of  a  few.  It 
bears  witness  to  the  immortality  of  certain  men,  but 
not  to  the  immortality  of  man.  It  is  the  glorious 
achievement  of  select  exceptions,  not  the  inalienable 
birthright  of  the  many  and  the  all. 

But  man  is  immortal  in  his  race.  The  gemis  homo 
does  not  die.  One  generation  passes  away,  but  an- 
other takes  its  place.  Man  is  perpetually  dying  and 
being  buried,  but  he   is  likewise  perpetually  rising 


38o  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

again  from  the  dead.  Phoenix-like,  from  the  ashes 
of  the  dead  there  comes  forth  the  inextinguishable 
hope  of  an  undying  futurity,  though  it  is  the  futurity 
of  succession,  and  not  of  the  separate  and  solitary 
one.  The  Christian  doctrine  of  the  life  everlasting 
is  something  more  than  the  eternity  of  the  type,  it 
is  the  deathlessness  of  the  individual.  It  is  not  that 
I  am  immortal,  because  the  race  to  which  I  belong 
cannot  die,  and  because  I  belong  to  it,  but  it  is  that 
I  am  immortal  because  death  cannot  ultimately  ex- 
tinguish me.  The  doctrine  has  been  proclaimed  of 
late  that  Christianity  does  not  predicate  the  immor- 
tality of  man  in  the  abstract,  but  only  of  those  whom 
it  invests  with  immortality  through  faith  in  the 
Redeemer.  With  reference  to  this  doctrine,  I  can 
only  say  that  I  do  not  go  to  Christianity  to  learn 
whether  or  not  I  shall  die,  but  to  the  scrutiny  of  my 
own  heart.  I  learn  there,  and  thousands  besides  me 
have  learnt  the  same,  that  there  is  that  in  me  which 
death  cannot  touch. 

And  I  should  say  that  the  very  fact  of  man  being 
able  to  debate  such  a  topic  as  that  of  his  own  im- 
mortality is  an  unmistakable  proof  of  the  immortality 
which  he  debates.  Who  told  thee  that  thou  wast 
immortal  t  Didst  thou  dream  it  of  thyself }  If  so, 
whence  came  the  dream  .>  How  was  it  that  such  a 
dream  could  take  possession  of  thee,  nay,  could  visit 
thee  at  all,  if  from  the  nature  of  the  case  thou  wast 
incapable  of  immortality  "i  It  is  like  the  thought  of 
God.      How  came  that  thought  into  the  mind  of 


THE  LIFE  EVERLASTING.  381 

man  ?  How  did  the  thought  stamp  itself  indelibly 
on  the  language  of  man  unless  because  it  was  the 
expression  of  a  fact.  Human  language  expresses 
only  those  things  which  need  to  be  expressed.  The 
existence  of  a  word  for  God  in  all  the  languages  of 
man  as  a  primary,  elementary,  and  necessary  thought, 
and  not  as  an  artificial  or  refined  necessity,  is  surely 
no  small  proof  of  the  fact  which  man  felt  compelled 
to  acknowledge  and  express. 

I  take  it,  then,  that  this  immortality  of  man's 
nature  is  a  primary  truth  which  Christianity  assumes 
and  does  not  inculcate.  The  immortality  of  man  is 
involved  in  the  fact  of  his  moral  superiority  no  less 
than  in  that  of  his  marvellous  power  of  contemplat- 
ing himself  as  a  whole,  from  a  point  external  to 
himself.  If  man  is  responsible,  there  must  be  a 
time  and  place,  or  something  that  answers  to  a  time 
and  place,  for  him  to  ^\w^  an  account.  Let  those 
who  like  take  refuge  in  the  thought  of  annihilation, 
of  total  extinction  after  death  ;  there  is,  after  all,  I 
presume,  something  to  be  annihilated,  something  to 
be  extinguished  ;  this  is  clearly  not  that  which  we 
see  annihilated,  which  we  see  touched  by  the  icy 
hand  of  death  ;  but  what  is  /it }  If  we  say  that  it  is 
annihilated,  how  do  we  arrive  at  the  knowledge  that 
it  exists  to  be  annihilated  }  Surely  it  is  a  cumbrous 
operation  first  to  call  it  into  existence  and  then  to 
annihilate  it,  better  by  far  to  deny  its  existence  ;  but 
then,  what  need  for  its  annihilation  }  Surely  man's 
consciousness,   his   sense   of  responsibility,   his   per- 


382  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

petual  tendency  to  reach  forth  into  worlds  unknown, 
are  all  so  many  undeniable  indications  of  a  capacity 
which  he  has  in  virtue  of  his  being,  which  Chris- 
tianity does  not,  and  has  not  given  him,  but  to  which 
it  only  appeals.  And  annihilation  is  nothing  better 
than  a  cowardly  way  of  baulking  the  inevitable  in- 
ference which  forces  itself  upon  the  conscience  and 
will  not  be  put  by. 

On  the  other  hand,  however,  there  are  two  great 
difficulties  connected  with  this  matter  of  immortality 
which,  as  they  are  not  invented  by  Christianity,  so 
neither  are  they  solved  by  it.  The  first  is,  that  if 
man  is  eternal  with  reference  to  futurity,  he  must,  or 
may  be  eternal  with  reference  also  to  the  past ;  which 
brings  us  face  to  face  with  the  mysteries  of  previous 
existence,  a  doctrine  which  has  oftentimes  been  held, 
and  of  which  there  may  have  been  a  trace  in  the 
words,  Master^  who  did  sin,  this  man,  or  his  parents, 
that  he  was  born  blind  ?  i  but  upon  which  our  Lord, 
with  characteristic  indifference  to  such  abstract  and 
idle  questionings,  has  thrown  no  light  in  His  reply. 
Certain  it  is,  that  the  testimony  of  human  conscious- 
ness on  this  point  is  incomparably  less  distinct  than 
it  is  on  the  other  of  immortality,  and  the  notion  of 
pre-existence  is  probably  nothing  more  than  the 
logical  penumbra  of  the  doctrine  of  immortality. 
There  appears  to  be  nothing  inconceivable  in  the 
notion  of  the  Almighty  Creator  calling  into  exist- 
ence in  time  and  in  the  world  of  matter  beings  whom 

*  I  John,  ix.  2. 


THE  LIFE  EVERLASTING.  383 

He  has  endowed  with  the  capacity  of  eternal  exist- 
ence ;  but  however  this  may  be,  we  cannot  refuse  to 
believe  in  man's  immortality  simply  because  to  do 
so  would  oblige  us,  if  so  be  it  were  to  oblige  us, 
logically,  to  believe  also  in  his  pre-existence.  His 
responsibility,  which  is  the  condition  of  his  existence 
here,  has  reference  to  the  all-golden  present,  and  not 
to  a  past  of  which,  as  far  as  we  are  concerned,  nothing 
whatever  is  known,  but  which  clearly  is  as  though  it 
had  never  been.  This  is  a  matter  on  which  I  do  not 
pretend  to  pronounce.  I  personally  do  not  believe 
in  it,  I  only  say  that,  supposing  the  logical  consequence 
of  accepting  the  doctrine  of  immortality  were  to  be 
the  belief  in  pre-existence,  this  would  not  constitute 
a  valid  reason  for  rejecting  that  doctrine. 

But  we  pass  on  to  the  second  difficulty.  And 
this  is  the  stupendous  magnitude  of  the  thought,  and 
the  terrible  oppressiveness  of  the  attempt  to  realise 
it.  Towards  the  end  of  the  London  season,  there 
are  two  words  which  frequently  suggest  themselves, 
which,  happily,  have  no  equivalents  in  our  language, 
but  which  are  expressive  of  conditions  unhappily  too 
common  among  us  ;  one  is  blas^,  the  other  is  enmii. 
It  is  sad,  indeed,  when  the  continued  stroke  of  afflic- 
tion and  suffering  has  made  us  weary  of  life  ;  but  it 
is  sadder  far  when  the  repeated  draught  of  pleasure 
has  wrought  the  same  preternatural  effect ;  when  we 
have  drunk  to  the  fill  of  the  sweet  wine  of  amuse- 
ment and  society  till  we  are  fain  to  put  the  cup  from 
us  with  disgust,  when  we  have  enjoyed  so  much  that 


384         .  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

we  can  enjoy  no  more.  It  is  not  all  of  whom  this 
is  true,  but  is  it  not  true  of  some  ?  If,  however,  to 
be  weary  of  the  hours  and  moments  as  they  fly  is 
the  experience  of  some  in  this  life,  what  is  not  the 
very  thought  itself  of  a  life  which  knows  no  change 
and  can  have  no  end  ?  Fortunately,  imagination 
itself  fails  to  apprehend  the  conception,  she  sinks 
under  it,  baffled  and  crest-fallen.  To  live  for  ever ; 
it  is  a  solemn,  an  awful,  an  overwhelming,  and 
oppressive  thought,  and  one  which,  in  its  positive 
aspect,  we  dare  not  realise,  and  cannot  hope  to 
appreciate  ;  but,  happily,  this  is  hardly  the  aspect 
in  which  we  need  to  apprehend  it.  He  that  believeth 
in  Me,  saith  our  Lord,^  shall  neve7'  die,  and  that,  I 
imagine,  is  appreciable.  Miserable  as  life,  whether 
from  a  surfeit  of  pleasure  or  from  excess  of  pain,  some- 
times is,  there  is  a  deeper,  because  an  unknown 
misery  yet  in  death.  We  quail  before  the  notion  of 
death,  we  shrink  from  the  prospect  of  dissolution 
and  the  thought  of  dying.  It  is  still,  under  all  cir- 
cumstances, "  life  and  fuller  life  we  want,"  and  not 
annihilation,  or  any  form  of  death. 

And  this  is  what  Christianity  has  to  give  us,  this 
is  the  assured  promise  of  faith  in  Christ,  that  whoso- 
ever— the  insignificant  no  less  than  the  distinguished, 
the  fool  no  less  than  the  reputed  wise,  the  poor  man 
no  less  than  the  mighty  rich  ;  not  the  select  or  the 
favoured  few,  whether  among  the  philosophers,  or  the 
fashionable,  or  the  blameless  and  the  moral,  but  that 

*  I  John  xi.  26. 


THE  LIFE  EVERLASTING.  385 

whosoever — -high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  great  and 
small,  one  with  another,  all  and  everyone  alike 
who  believeth  in  Jesus,  may  not  perish  but  have 
everlasting  life.  It  is  not  the  Christian  Creed 
which  gives  this  life  but  faith  in  the  Christ  who 
gives  it,  that  faith  in  Him  as  the  living  centre 
which  carries  with  it  the  radiating,  subsidiary  and 
subordinate  faith  in  the  various  articles  of  the  Chris- 
tian Creed. 

And  here  we  must  for  a  moment  contemplate  the 
alternative,  for  there  surely  is  an  alternative  to  be 
contemplated.  St.  John,  the  apostle  of  love,  does 
not  hesitate  to  say  so  :  He  that  hath  the  Son  hath  life 
he  tJiat  hath  not  the  Son  of  God  hath  not  life}  It 
man's  birthright  in  virtue  of  his  constitution  is 
immortality ;  if  he  is  endowed  with  an  inextin- 
guishable spark  of  life,  what  will  not,  must  not,  that 
life  be  apart  from  Christ.  He  that  hath  not  the  Son 
hath  not  life.  The  language  is  itself  stamped  with 
the  mark  of  the  eternal,  for  it  is  studiously  and 
conspicuously  independent  of  time — it  is  couched  in 
the  terms  of  an  unqualified  and  interminable  pre- 
sent ;  it  expresses  an  unfailing  condition  which,  from 
moment  to  moment,  from  year  to  year,  from  century 
to  century,  is  unalterably  true,  which,  perhaps,  since 
the  words  were  first  penned,  was  never  so  capable 
of  being  apprehended,  or  likely  to  be  apprehended, 
as  it  is  now.  But  can  we  limit  their  significance 
to  the  present  life  or  the  present  state  of  being  }    I 

'  I  John  V.  12. 

25 


386  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

think  not.  Wherever  and  in  whatever  state  man  is, 
if  he  hath  not  the  Son  of  God,  though  he  may  last 
for  ever,  yet  he  hath  not  life.  It  is  an  awful 
thought,  verily,  but  it  is  a  thought,  the  truth  and 
awfulness  of  which  we  see  around  us.  Christianity 
gives  us  no  light  on  the  necessary  problems  of  our 
being  :  it  does  not  tell  us  what  our  history  in  the 
past  has  been,  nor  even  whether  or  not  we  have 
a  past  ;  it  does  not  tell  us  what  our  future  shall  be  ; 
it  does  not  help  us  in  the  slightest  degree  to  grasp 
the  thought  of  that  immortality  which  our  very 
nature  bears  witness  to,  and  the  thought  of  which  we 
cannot  suppress  because  it  is  our  nature.  Christianity 
does  not  rend  aside  the  thick  veil  of  uncertainty  and 
perplexity  which  envelops  us  on  every  side  and  in- 
tercepts our  view.  But  Christianity  knows  perfectly 
well  what  it  offers,  and  is  perfectly  distinct  and  clear 
about  what  it  has  to  give.  It  has  life,  eternal  life,  to 
give.  This  life,  despite  man's  natural  inextinguish- 
able immortality,  he  does  not  possess.  Christianity 
comes  to  him,  telling  him  he  does  not  possess  it,  and 
he  knows  that  he  does  not.  It  comes  to  him  and 
says,  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not 
perish  :  therefore,  whosoever  believeth  not  is  perishing, 
doth  perish,  is  dead  while  he  liveth,  will  continue  dead 
as  long  as  he  so  liveth,  for  what  is  true  at  any  given 
moment  of  a  particular  condition,  is  tru^  at  any  given 
moment  as  long  as  that  condition  is  unaltered,  must 
be  true  for  ever  if  the  condition  remains  for  ever  un- 


THE  LIFE  EVERLASTING.  387 

altered — should  not  perish  as  all  without  Christ  are 
thus  perishing,  but  have  everlasting  life} 

Then  what  of  those  who  know  not  Christ  and 
have  never  heard  of  Him  ?  Nay,  from  the  very- 
nature  of  the  case,  the  statement  applies  not  to  them ; 
it  applies  only  to  those  who,  by  the  presence  and 
the  preaching  of  Christ,  have  been  made  conscious, 
or  at  least  have  been  assured,  of  their  great  want, 
of  their  lost  condition  without  Him.  Of  these  no 
one  needs  to  continue  perishing,  as,  without  Him,  he 
must  perish.  Belief  in  Christ,  or  rather  Christ,  upon 
his  belief,  will  ^\nq.  him  eternal,  everlasting  life — that 
is  to  say,  a  life  which  is  devoid  of  death,  which  is 
independent  of  change  ;  though  verily  we  know  not 
what  changes  may  be  reserved  for  it,  changes  mani- 
festly here  many  and  various,  touching  oftentimes 
the  very  apple  of  the  eye,  penetrating  even  to  the 
quick,  and  piercing  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  the 
joints  and  marrow  ;  but  changes  possibly  also  here- 
after :  does  not  the  very  word  al(t}VLo<;,  aeonian,  per- 
taining to  cycles  of  ages,  serve  to  suggest  as  much  ? 
It  shall  give  an  everlasting  life  which  is  out  of  the 
reach  of  change,  which  looks  down  unmoved  upon 
the  flux  of  time  and  change  beneath,  enduring  and 
surviving  all.  About  this  life  there  is  and  can  be 
no  mistake  to  the  possessor.  He  knows  that  his 
heritage  by  faith  in  Christ  is  a  distinct,  palpable, 
substantive  possession,  which  he  had  not  before  he 
believed,  and  which  he  holds  only  upon  condition  of 

'  I  John  iii.  16. 


388  THE  CHRISTIAN  CREED. 

belief.  Nor  can  others  question  its  influence  and 
effects,  however  stoutly  they  may  deny  its  reality. 
There  is  such  a  thing  as  Christian  peace,  which  is 
the  result  of  Christian  faith  ;  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  Christian  joy,  which  springs  out  of  Christian  peace ; 
and  there  is  such  a  thing  as  Christian  hope,  which 
no  prospect  of  death  can  quench,  and  for  which  the 
stolid  indifference  of  blank  materialism  can  offer  but 
a  miserable  substitute,  which  can  in  no  way  be  con- 
founded or  compared  with  it. 

This  is  everlasting  life ;  not  the  infinite  prolonga- 
tion in  an  eternally  protracted  time  of  the  life  we 
naturally  live  here,  but  the  super-addition  to  our 
natural  life  of  another  condition  and  capacity  of 
existence,  which  gives  scope  for  the  infinite  develop- 
ment of  all  the  existing  powers,  and  calls  into 
operation  other  faculties,  energies,  and  perceptions 
which,  but  for  its  influence,  had  otherwise  lain  dor- 
mant or  had  not  existed — the  communication  to  the 
spiritual  nature  of  man  of  that  new  life  of  love, 
which  is  the  endowment  of  those  who  have  learnt 
to  believe  that  God  is  love,  and  to  find  strength  in 
the  thought  that  He  has  encouraged  them  unre- 
servedly to  trust  His  love,  inasmuch  as  He  has 
called  them  to  the  fellowship  of  the  Son  of  His  love, 
and  given  them  in  Him  the  free  promise  of  all  things 
else.  For  this  is  life  eternal^  that  they  might  know 
thee^  the  only  true  God  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou 
hast  sent} 

»  John  ^v^l^ax-^ 

[TJiriVBIlSITTj 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  T. 
,     Boo,.  „„.  ,f  ^MPED  BE^^^ST  DATE 

rtOltao  /S25 


23^Pr'4eSl 


'^»'"-7,'25 


YC  41261" 


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